


Bitter Broken Me

by MeredithBrody



Category: NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-06-10 13:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 105,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6958093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/pseuds/MeredithBrody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following Russo's betrayal and the NOLA team's 2 week leave, Pride tries to help Brody deal with some of her mental health issues, while Percy and LaSalle deal with their changed dynamic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. This is going to be a multichapter, and I know what's going to happen in it for the most part. Well, the Prody parts I know. I'm sort of winging the PerSalle parts, as I'm not great at writing either Percy or LaSalle, but I need to push the boat out. Anyway, this is post season 2, and the title comes from the song of the same name by "As It Is"

It had been two weeks since she'd left New Orleans, and while in some ways Meredith Brody felt better about it all, in another way she felt worse. She missed her friends, and she missed her cases. She wasn't entirely certain that this had actually helped as much as she'd hoped it would. The therapy had helped a little, she'd been able to identify some of the things she did in response to the stress she had in her life. In other ways, she just wanted to be with her friends again, with her family. With the people who made her feel safe. She was just laid on the beach after another full morning of therapy, hoping that she didn't have to think about anything more on that today, when she heard a very welcome and familiar voice calling over to her. “I heard you might be out here?”

“King!” She smiled and stood up, walking toward him and letting him catch her in a close embrace. She felt so much better to be held by someone she cared about, someone she knew wouldn't let her down. A minute later she leant back and smiled as Pride let her go. “The front desk give me up that easily?” She teased softly, truthfully glad to see him.

“I still have my badge on me.” He replied, teasing back the same way. It felt good, it felt familiar. There were so many things that she had needed after almost two full weeks. Things she'd never known she'd miss. She'd been due back in New Orleans the following evening, and she'd been planning to drive up in the afternoon, after her last few sessions of therapy.

“It's before the schools stop for summer vacation, it's exactly what I needed.” She was talking about the beach, as she hadn't told Pride why she was here. She'd text him saying what town she was staying in, but she'd not told him why. She'd wanted to stay here and not tell anyone why. Out of everyone though, Pride should know. She had mentioned it to Loretta, but she was certain Loretta would have kept her secret.

“Mind me joining you for an afternoon?” Pride asked, following her over to the recliners where she'd been relaxing before. Pride sat on the side of one, while Brody herself sat on the side of hers facing him. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him, because she was glad he was here. Though she was gonna give him hell about it for a while.

“Are you stalking me?” She asked quietly, only because she realised she hadn’t told him where she was staying. Briefly there was a shadow of Russo crossing over her mind, and how he’d always seemed to know where she was going. When she looked up again it was her friend, the man she trusted with her life, and she knew there was probably a better explanation.

“No, Loretta told me what hotel you were staying at and I was out this way.” That made far more sense. She’d told Loretta when they’d been thinking about other things, and when she’d wanted other ways to contact Merri in case of an emergency. As for why Pride was out this way, she tilted her head a little and smiled. “I'm touring as a fill-in piano player.”

“You have a gig nearby tonight?” That sounded like fun. It had been a while since she’d been to any gigs that weren’t held in Pride’s bar. She’d enjoyed them when she was younger, then she’d been too busy. For the last several months she’d just gone to whoever was playing at Pride’s bar, which had been great. With all that, she thought that maybe giving this one a miss would be for the best.

“Yeah, you should come.” Pride said that as though that was the only reason that he’d come, to convince her to go to the gig to see him play. She actually thought that was kind of adorable, that he’d wanted her to see him play professionally that much that he’d made sure to come out here and visit her.

She still wasn’t entirely sure that would be the best of ideas. Brody wasn’t certain that being around so many people would be good for her when she was still struggling to deal with everything that was in her mind. “I don't know...” She started, but Pride reached forward and gently put his finger on her lip.

“One night with people won't break you.” He smiled, and she realised that he was clearly remembering that she said she’d wanted to be on a secluded beach, that she needed to clear her mind. That was one of the things she was trying here, maybe not the way that he would have thought that she was.

“No, you're right.” Brody smiled in the end, thinking it over. It would be a pleasant end to this trip to get to spend an evening watching one of her best friends doing something he enjoyed, and something he was good at. She was also sure that Pride would arrange it so that he’d be able to see her too. “I'll be with you too.”

“You managing to clear your head?” That question was one that she hadn’t really expected entirely, even though they’d just been talking about it. Pride was normally a little more subtle with his questions, but he was clearly thinking, right now, that asking outright would get better answers. 

“Yes and no.” She hedged her bets slightly, deciding that it was best she be at least a little truthful. She hadn’t told him why she was here, but Brody normally trusted him with everything. Pride could be trusted with the real reason she’d come here. The real reason she’d made  _ this _ particular trip. She’d try to find out if their friend had told him first anyway. “Did Loretta tell you I came here because there is a specialist in trauma therapy here?”

“She didn't.” Pride confirmed, frowning a little as he spoke. Brody just nodded while letting out a sigh, she should have known that Loretta would never divulge information like that without permission. “How did you know about the centre?” Pride then asked, and she had to think back on that as to how best to answer it.

“Remember last year, when I was still dating Sam -Doc Wilkins?” Before James showed up. She left that unspoken. Her ex-fiance seemed to be a bit of a sore topic with everyone in their office, and that was another one she didn’t understand. Compared to her recent decisions, James was a wonderful person. Sam had been a decent enough guy too, if a little boring.

“Yeah?” Clearly Pride remembered Sam, and from the minute expression of annoyance probably thought that he was boring too. Just like LaSalle had admitted to thinking he was rather annoying. It didn’t seem to be an uncommon opinion, which is probably why everyone had been a little relieved when James had ended that.

“He mentioned this woman when we were dating and he was pushing for me to see a shrink.” Sam had not liked that she refused to get help for what he’d seen as being problems. Back then they hadn’t been. Issues, maybe, but not actual problems. Now she had actual problems, things that weren’t just a lack of intimacy and emotional detachment.

“A year ago?” Pride probed, and Brody just shook her head for a moment, trying to indicate that she hadn’t been hiding the fact that she was getting therapy from him. Just because Sam had thought she had issues didn’t mean she actually had had issues that whole time. Just that her ex had either known what was coming or was psychic.

“He thought I had some issues, I disagreed back then.” She smiled, reassuring him about that, then again her mind flashed back to Russo. She may not have had too much to deal with before, but since Emily’s case and everything that had happened in the last three weeks… she needed it. The last year really, ever since Baitfish had killed Savannah. It had been one thing after another. “But after this last year… I can see that if I didn't then I do now.”

“That's very wise.” Pride clearly approved of her knowing herself well enough to get help when it was needed. After this it really was needed, but she wasn’t sure if this was the right fit for her. Maybe it worked for the average person in their career, but she wasn’t that type of person, and all that she felt like now was that she’d talked about it enough that she wasn’t afraid to bring it up anymore.

“So, I've spent two weeks in intense therapy sessions, group sessions…” She didn’t want to list it all, so she left it dangling a little. Pride sat nodding before reaching out and squeezing her hand gently.

He just kept smiling at her softly, holding her hand as she gathered herself back together again. It was never as easy anymore. Once upon a time it had been simple for her to brush things like this off, but no longer. “Has it helped?” 

“I don't know. I understand more why I do some of the things that I do, but…” She could identify them, identify the behaviours they caused, but she hadn’t learnt how to stop them, or how to manage them once they started. Mostly she’d learnt that things that never bothered her should, and she didn’t know what that meant. “I still don't know how to deal with them.”

“How about we work it out together?” Pride’s suggestion seemed open, and it was clear he wasn’t trying to push her into anything. Knowing her friend he just wanted to make sure that she knew she could come home and there would be someone there who was willing to help her, no matter what. “I'll help you figure out how to move on from this, we'll work this out together.”

“You'd do that? For me?” Brody ended up smiling even at the suggestion he’d help her that much. It wasn’t easy to help someone work out their issues, and she’d already seen Pride go through it once with LaSalle. She didn’t want to pile on with more problems, and more things he couldn’t fix, but she’d leave the choice to him.

“Of course I would. Any time. You're in my family, Merri.” His voice was soft and sincere, and the warmth that invaded her heart at hearing that someone considered her family was enough to make her happy. That actually managed to pick her up more than two weeks of therapy had.

“I love hearing you say that.” She smiled, thinking that telling him that that mattered would help. At the same time though, it made her realise what part of her problem still was. She couldn’t let go. “My problem is that I still feel guilty. I feel guilty that I let Russo in. Guilty that… I didn't think he was guilty before I went too far with him.” If she’d known she never would have let him in. “Guilty that he almost killed you, Chris and Sonja… and hundreds of others.”

Pride shook his head looking at her and reached over to squeeze her hands again. “You couldn't have seen through him, Merri. You saw through him earlier than anyone else. You gave us time to work against him and figure out how to save the city.” That was clearly supposed to reassure her, but it wasn’t working.

“But I let him get close.” That was something that none of them could deny. She’d let him in and less than 24 hours later she’d killed him. That was probably one of the worst endings to a relationship that she’d had. “I know you say I didn't, I was smart. But I wasn't I was genuinely just lucky. Lucky that my mind kept me on guard.” That voice, the one Pride told her to listen to more, that was the only thing that had saved them all.

“You know that none of us blame you, right?” His tone made it clear that if she hadn’t before she’d better believe it now. She actually did believe that her friends didn’t blame her, but they weren’t the only ones who had skin in this game.  “That DHS already cleared you, and DC will too.”

“You don't know that, King. I have a… history.” They both knew what she was thinking about, and she knew that it was a reasonable thing to worry about. Even now the shadow of her mistake or lack of aboard the  _ USS Moultrie _ was there, hanging over her as she tried to move on. “What if this is like the  _ Moultrie _ ? Something that I never get to move on from because every time I hit a bump someone brings it up. 'Don't trust Brody, she slept with a mole'.” That was probably taking it a little far, but it was how her mind was thinking.

“You're being melodramatic, you didn't know, and he tried to charm you.” Russo hadn’t tried to charm her, he had charmed her. It wasn’t an ambiguous place to have been. Everything that he’d said to her had been a lie, everything that he’d thought too, probably. “He did charm you.”

“I should have stuck with you. You've never let me down.” She smiled a little looking at Pride, because she knew beyond all doubt that that was the truth. There weren’t many people in the world who she could say, conclusively, had never let her down. Pride was one of a small number, and that made him special to her.

“I've tried.” He smiled and nodded again then stood up, clearly thinking that he’d pulled her away from her relaxation for long enough, especially if he was going to be dragging her out for the evening too. “Come to my gig tonight, we'll deal with everything else tomorrow. I’ll leave you tickets”

“OK, I'll come.” She agreed, deciding that if he was going to go to the hassle of leaving her tickets and making sure that she had plenty of space and time and ways to get away, like she knew he would, that least she could do was go and be supportive of one of her friends, especially as she knew he’d do it for her.

“Wear something nice?” He grinned a little more at that, and Brody had to think for a minute if she actually had brought anything nice with her. Packing had been a rather speedy affair, as she’d just needed to get out of New Orleans and hadn’t wanted to wait around really.

“I'll see what I've got with me.” She smiled then stood up and wrapped her arms around him again in another hug. This visit had made her feel better than everything else in this situation, and she was now glad she was going home soon. “Bye King.” She smiled when she stepped back, then watched him head back to his car. She spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing, just like she had every afternoon for two weeks. Then she’d gone back up to her room and searched out some clothes.

She'd been enjoying the concert, she was stood near the front where the VIPs were, Pride having arranged that pass for her. Probably to make sure that she actually was there. She'd even moved along so that she was stood in front of where he was. As one song finished she heard his comment, and panicked instantly. “Can I bring a friend up?”

“Sure.” Came the response and Pride immediately turned to her and motioned for her to join him. She shook her head and held her hands up, trying to convince him that this probably wasn't the best of ideas. She wasn't sure that being front and centre was what she needed, but she did think that this could be fun. She was going to make it hard though. Just for kicks.

“Merri, come on.” Pride leant down so he could speak only to her. She was glad about that, because she didn't really want everyone in that room knowing her name. That was alright really, and she was worried about this. But it was Pride's last night, and that was probably why he'd wanted her to come.

“King I can't.” She kept playing it hard, not wanting to appear to give in too easily. She really enjoyed the look on his face for a few minutes. He was definitely at the point where he would probably beg her if she didn't get up willingly, and she was ready for that. She'd get up, no matter what he said next.

“You said you wanted to be with me.” That would have made her get up with him anyway. As it was she took his outstretched hand and let him pull her up on stage, and then onto the bench next to him. “That's my girl.” Was the only thing he said, and she noticed his use of the possessive, and instead of being upset she just blushed, that was exactly what she needed to hear.

“I can't believe you brought me up here.” She complained quietly, though with another song starting up she didn't need to really be all that quiet. What she truly needed was for him to let her get away with just sitting here, clearly he was not going to do that, he never would. He always liked to push her to be better.

“You play too, I remember last year when we'd sit and play a little.” Pride's smile was adorable, and Brody couldn't really believe he remembered that. She'd never played much, normally just sat and listened to him play, she'd loved it because he was so good, and not many people got to watch him play. Less still got to hear her.

“In your room!” She argued, because she was not ready to ever play to an audience of more than one, but again, Pride probably didn't really care too much about that. He just wanted to push her out of her comfort zone, and she was OK with that today, probably for the first time in a long time.

“Just follow my lead.” He said quietly, nudging her shoulder softly as he did. He was going to keep pushing her like this. She was sure of that. It was who he was, it was how he was professionally and it seemed like it was how he was personally too. She could totally believe it was how he was personally, given the demonstrations that she'd had of it. So she took a breath and put her fingers on the keys.

“I always do.” She smiled, looking at him before she started playing along with him. Not missing a single note. That made her feel a little more confident about playing with him, which was no doubt exactly what he was going to make her do for the rest of the night. She knew him well enough for that. They just sat and played, enjoying the atmosphere of the crowd.

“I know. This is my last gig on the tour. I was thinking…” Pride spoke just as the song came to an end. She smiled and clapped along with everyone else, while Pride applauded her as well as the others. She then looked at him as he continued with his thought. “I might stay tonight, and we can drive back together.”

“I think I like that idea.” Brody had thought that it would be a very lonely drive home, so she would like it if Pride was there to share the journey with her. She shouldn't have been all that surprised about Pride showing up here. Maybe she should have been surprised that he hadn't shown up earlier.

“Good. Because I didn't want to leave you alone again.” Pride smiled as another song started to play, covering up their conversation again. Only once it was in the full swing did he say the last thing that he'd clearly wanted to add, and in a way she was glad that he did. She liked that being private. “I've missed you.”

“I've missed you too.” She smiled and elbowed him gently. A year earlier she would never have admitted it, and she certainly wouldn't have expected to hear him say it at all. She knew that Pride cared about her, their moment after the case, when she could tell they'd been thinking the same thing about one another told her that much. She knew that he wanted to help her get over all her metaphorical historical since. She hadn't realised until recently that she felt the same about him. She'd wanted so desperately to have something new that she'd ignored what was in front of her. This time though, she was actually going to not rush anything, with Pride or anyone else. She had gone against her own thought about it being too early to date with Russo, and she wasn't going to make that mistake again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, thank you all so much for your lovely reviews and all of your favourites. I know most of you are here for the PerSalle and I start that in the next chapter. It’s going to be a very slow-burn type fic, so I hope you’re all in for the long haul! Special thanks go to Kat, who is my guru on all things LaSalle and, as always, to my BFF Icka, for generally being supportive and awesome. Also thanks go to my terrible booty call from last week and my awful date today for giving me ample time to write.  
> \-- Shin xx

**** They hadn’t spoken when they’d woken up. Neither of them had been in the position to. They’d just bought coffee and then started driving. It was a long drive and they needed to be back in New Orleans. That was probably a problem, because neither of them actually seemed like they were ready to go home. Well, they were both ready to go home, but maybe not back to work. He was sure that Brody was nervous about it at least, and he could tell she was obsessing about it, which was the point he thought it would likely be best he bring it up. “You ready to go home?”

“No… But yes.” She was staring out of the front window, still holding the by-now empty coffee cup. They’d been driving a little over two hours, and they still had almost twelve to go. It was a good idea to have set out this early, but he wondered if this was going to be an issue later in the day. “We have to go home.” Merri still didn’t sound convinced, and he was worried.

“Merri…” He started, but almost immediately she sat up and stared at him for a second. It was obvious that, for whatever reason, that sudden change in how they addressed each other had affected her. He had known that it would, when it was crossed, be something that changed things for them both. 

“When did  _ you _ start use my nickname?” She asked, and while it was reasonable that she asked that, as it had taken over 2 years for him to start. It was the symbol of when he’d started to feel like he was close enough to her for that. Unlike with Sonja and Chris, they’d instigated that line to kept themselves slightly apart. Then Russo had threatened their dynamic.

“When you started sleeping with someone.” He spat it out before he’d truly thought about it, and in the end it was a little more truthful than he would have normally admitted that. He hadn’t wanted to ever tell her that that was why he’d changed, why he’d crossed that unspoken line. That one line that they’d never wanted to pass. Now it was a long way behind them, and he was fairly sure that Brody could feel it too.

“Were you jealous?” She asked, seriously at first. He didn’t know how to answer that so just stayed silent, that was probably more telling than any answer he could have given would have been. After a minute she chuckled and smiled at him, squeezing his hand softly. He was pretty sure that she was just placating him though, because now she had to know that he had been a little jealous. “I’m just teasing.”

“We should find out in the morning what DC discovered.” He decided to distract her by focusing again on the outcome of the administrative review that had caused their leave. He was a little bit nervous about it, but he wasn’t really the object of the investigation. Not the way that Brody was anyway.

“Good, I don’t think I can wait much longer.” She muttered quietly, and now she wouldn’t look at him. If they weren’t driving he would have made her look at him, but he couldn’t right now. He worried that she’d been worrying about this while she was trying to get her head straight and work things out. He hadn’t thought much about the review over the last two weeks, but he had thought about her almost constantly.

“You’ve not been thinking about it while on leave have you?” He didn’t accuse, just asked a little casually. In truth he wasn’t sure that he would have been able to forget about it if things had happened like that to him. Brody deserved some good vibes from the universe right now, because she’d been pretty badly treated by the universe over the last decade.

Brody looked like she was debating whether or not she should be honest with him, and he was glad to see that she fell on the side of telling him the truth. It was beginning to get to the point that he knew whether or not she was lying. “Well… not specifically. But it has crossed my mind more than once.” 

“Don’t panic about it. You’ve already been cleared by Homeland, and I’m sure the investigation will clear you as well.” The fact that Homeland had cleared her, and it had been their agent who she’d had to kill. If they thought that she had good reason to have done what she did then he doubted that their own agency was going to overturn it. Besides that, She was the one who’d worked it all out. “You saved the city, all of us. You figured it out.”

“By letting Russo get too close.” Brody grumbled, and he remembered that they’d already had this argument two weeks ago. She was convinced that she’d done something wrong, that everything that had happened was her fault. He knew she was wrong but convincing her of that was a much bigger problem.

“I feel like I’m not going to win this argument.” He rolled his eyes, merging into the next lane of traffic as they made it away from the latest town they’d driven by. It was strange to in this situation, but he was glad that he’d decided to come back with Brody rather than travelling with the tour. He’d missed spending time with her like this over the last two weeks. He hadn’t missed arguing though, or maybe he had.

“Not right now, anyway.” She agreed, and he had to bite his tongue for a second with his first thought about that. He would win eventually, but telling her that probably wouldn’t actually help him all that much. Maybe he could phrase it as a hypothetical, and change it around so that he was teasing her too.

“If DC clear you can I win the argument?” He ended up teasing, it was all he could think, and he thought that it was probably going to be the easiest way to try and get her smiling. His priority right now, and for the foreseeable future was going to be making her feel like she was was worthwhile and trying to make her smile. He understood that she didn’t much feel like it, but that was why he was going to try and help her see that there was no reason to be so down.

“I’ll consider it.” She was silent for a few moments longer after that, and he wondered if she was trying to convince him that she was genuinely trying to consider it. He just carried on driving as she turned to him suddenly with a confused look, and he had to wonder what had changed. “Also, how come this is my car and you ended up driving?” She asked, and he had to think that over for a second. 

“I actually don’t know.” He had to admit after several minutes, then he remembered that he’d just been following her lead. She’d walked around to the passenger side, and therefore he’d gotten in the drivers side and started off. he didn’t even remember taking the keys from her. “You’re the one who got in the passenger side.” 

“I’m just used to you driving when we’re at work.” She defended loudly, and he ended up bursting out laughing. He loved hearing that sound, and more than that he loved knowing that she could still see the funny side of things. They both trailed off into silence again, it was another twenty minutes and another town before Merri started talking again. “Do you think Chris has sorted out whatever brought him down two weeks ago.”

“What do you mean?” He hadn’t seen Chris after he’d gone to give Sonja the news of their impending leave, but he had assumed that Brody would have when she’d gone to leave. He was sure that eventually someone would be able to tell him what was going on with his agents, but it was rarely him. He was the boss and they didn’t tend to gossip to him.

“You know as we were leaving the office.” She started, clearly forgetting that he’d stayed in the office after she’d left then had gone to meet up with Loretta and the boys at the bar. He hadn’t enquired as to any of the vacation plans, and nobody but Brody and Loretta had volunteered. So as to what had bothered Chris, he didn't have a clue. “He seemed pretty down or upset. He left after I did though.” 

“He left before I went to join the others in the bar. Sebastian was waiting for you.” He started, and he was certain that Brody knew what was coming. It had become the go-to tease right now, and it was by far his favourite one to pull up at random unexpected moments.

Brody just laughed a little, shaking her head and smiled. None of them knew exactly when Sebastian had developed the little thing he had right now for her, but it was universally agreed to be sweet, though it was clear to everyone, including Sebastian, that Brody was not at all interested in him the same way. Not that that was going to stop him teasing her. “He’s got a little crush at the moment, it’s kinda cute.”

“Not your type?” Pride teased further, thinking that it would be more amusing that way. She would have to admit that her type was not always the best thing for her, and he could agree with that. he thought that, right now, that would be the only way he could get her to admit that in a way he could agree to, and it was something she needed to admit to.

“Not really. Look at the guys I date.” She said quietly, looking out the window again. Right now that was likely not the best thing she could have said. Her taste in men had long been something that was off limits them mentioning. Always because she didn’t attract the best people. She had even gone on a few dates with a man she’d met as a suspect. That was enough of an example of her questionable taste for him to be concerned.

“Not always the best of examples.” He commented, and that was the first and probably the last thing he was going to say about it. Pride wasn’t really an objective observer here, and he hadn’t been for some time. What had changed between them since they’d solved Emily’s case he didn’t know, but something had changed. He was happy about it, but he got the notion that she wasn’t as much.

“Hey, James isn’t a bad guy.” She maybe had a point with him, at least the background check they’d run showed that he was a decent guy. He was just a workaholic. “He and I just don’t work. We love each other but neither of us can actually commit to making the relationship work so I think we’re done.” That pronouncement wasn’t one he expected. He knew that she and James had had an undefined relationship since the first time he’d come to New Orleans, and Pride hoped that if that was what she wanted that she was happy.

“For good this time?” Why did he ask that? He had no reason to actually need to know that, yet he couldn’t get it out of his head. The worst part was that she might actually answer, and that would open up a bunch of other questions. Questions he doubted she was ready to answer.

“I’m not sure I can ever say ‘for good’ when it comes to him.” She ended up answering after a few long moments of silence. He could tell that she wasn’t really ready for this, but that she had decided to tell him. Maybe that was a sign that she was coming around to the idea that she needed to let people in. Though he understood where she was with James, it would be where he was with Linda if she hadn’t cut the cord. 

“Maybe one day, huh?” He asked with a smile, knowing that was probably the best she could do. As soon as she was settled with someone else, in a committed relationship she’d probably be able to think more about cutting the cord with James. Unless, of course, it was James she settled with. Pride secretly hoped it wasn’t.

“Maybe.” She nodded a little, and while it was obvious that she was trying, that was likely enough sharing for her right now. She still wasn’t very good at it, but Pride was proud of her for what she’d managed to do already. “Did you enjoy the tour? Meet anyone interesting?” It was nice of her to turn the questions back onto him. 

“No, no. I’ve only eyes for one person right now.” He left than hanging for a few seconds, just to see how she’d handle it, at the look on her face he just smiled then added his pre-thought reply. He wasn’t fooled though, he’d seen the flash of jealousy she’d had, and that made him feel like, maybe, there was something going on between them after all. “My piano.”

“Oh of course.” She smiled a little at that, but another quick glance at her told him that she was relieved that was all he had said. The truth was that she was all he had eyes for, but this wasn’t the time nor situation in which he was going to tell her that. He needed to bide his time and either the perfect time would come or this would all fade away. Right now he wasn’t certain which he wanted to happen more.

“I’m too old for all that now.” He commented, and sometimes he genuinely believed that, he was almost 60, he had a grown up daughter, and while he wanted a more meaningful connection he wasn’t going to chase it anymore. He had his career, his bar and his daughter. That was enough if nothing else ever came along for him, and assuming that there was never the right time for him to tell Brody how he felt.

“You’re never too old for it, King.” Her answer came almost as soon as he’d finished speaking, and he wondered if she was trying to reassure him or herself. Either way he wasn’t sure he entirely agreed, but it was honestly nice to hear that she thought he still had something left in him. “You deserve someone to make you happy.”

“So do you, Merri.” He said that quietly, looking at the road so as to try and hide that he wanted to tell her then and there. Maybe that was the ‘right moment’ that he’d been searching for, but it didn’t feel like it was. It felt like there needed to be more to it than just him wanting to blurt it out. It needed to be meaningful. So instead he left it bland and vague, because he knew that beyond anything she wanted to have someone that she could go home to at night. “You’ll find someone, I’m sure of it.”

“Thanks.” She smiled softly and reached down to squeeze his hand again. He turned his hand around and returned the gesture, glancing over at her to see the comfort on her face. Pride had total confidence in her, no matter what she did. He knew that if she put her mind to it then she’d be able to do it. They still had several hours before they got home, and he knew that, come the morning, they would be back at work. They’d be back to fighting the bad guys together and he couldn’t wait for that. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chris hadn’t been here in over a year. He’d not been here since Savannah’s funeral, and sometimes he felt terrible for that. Most of the time he thought that he should just move on, life happened. Then he’d pick up his phone in an absent-minded moment to text her and the crushing truth would come back on him.  He still truly believed that she was special to him, and always would have been. He should have made more of an effort, but the truth was even as he stood there he didn’t know why he was there. He just needed to speak to someone, anyone, who would listen. This wasn’t the same, but it was the closest thing he had. “I’m sorry I’ve not been to visit in a while. Things have been busy at home.” When had he started thinking of work as home? He didn’t really need to answer that. He knew, they both knew. 

“I don’t even know where to start with everything. So I’ll start at the start. Cade is doing amazing, you wouldn’t believe it.” Savannah had been doing so much for Cade, and Chris knew that she’d be proud of all the progress he’d made over the last year. It was a complete change from what he’d used to be. “Between losing Wendy and you… I think he’s determined to stay on the straight and narrow this time.” That was certainly how it had seemed. Like Cade had been trying to keep things stable. “It’s been a year, and he’s stayed on the straight and narrow.”

“Momma and Tabby-cat are both doing great.” It seemed best that he continue on an even ground. His family. They were the best way to start any update. “You should see Tabby, she’s got a new job and she loves it. It’s nice to see her finally enjoying what she does.” His sister had drifted between careers for as long as he could remember, but finally she had settled.

“As for me… well.” That was something, wasn’t it. How did he even begin to explain what was going on with him, especially since it required him explaining everything that had been going on at work over the last few weeks. There had been so much bad happening, that was probably why he was here, why something in his subconscious had pushed him to come here. 

“Work has been hard lately.” That was the easiest way to move the conversation along to where he needed it to go. “I was almost killed a few weeks ago, something both Pride and Percy have been yelling at me about since. Apparently I didn’t cope with it well, and Percy is pissed that I didn’t tell her at the time.” Everyone had seemed to be pissed at him during that case. It wasn’t his fault that it just hadn’t worried him as much as it probably should have, would have. 

“Pride though, otherwise he seems to be OK. We ain’t as close as we used to be, but I think that’s just on account of Brody and Percy.” They didn’t spend as much time together anymore as they used to, and that just made Chris think about the fact Pride had definitely developed feelings for their fellow agent. “He’s got a thing for Brody, won’t admit it to her but the rest of us know. Won’t admit it to us either mind.” He was putting bets on when they would finally admit anything, probably no time soon. “They’re partnered up now, so he spends most of his time with her.”

That just moved his mind onto thinking about his former partner, and everything she’d been through so far this year. He wouldn’t normally open up about this, but he needed to talk about it. “Brody… She’s had a rough few months. Remember I told you about her sister? We found out she was murdered, it ran Merri off the road for a while there.” He knew that she’d struggled, but he’d been wrapped up in himself, he hadn’t even thought about how much she was struggling. “She had a bit of a problem a couple of weeks ago, it’s why we’re all on leave. She was duped by this guy, we all were really, but Merri more than most of us.”

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s my fault, you know. I saw her breaking down after her sister’s case and instead of telling Pride I was worried about her I just carried on teasing her.” He couldn’t help but regret the fact the he hadn’t helped her more, even though he had no idea how he could have done it. He just wanted to save everyone. “I should have known. She’s one of my best friends and I let her suffer alone.”

“She never did that with me.” That was the biggest issue he had with this situation. Brody had never turned away from him after Savannah had died, she’d even tried to push him in to talking. “After you died she was there, and she checked up on me. I feel like I should have done more.”

He sighed and thought of the last member of the team, the one that was the real reason why he was here. “Then there is Percy. I remember that last time I saw you, on that last case when Cade was arrested and Pride had me working with her. You asked me if she was my other girlfriend?” That was the closest the two women had come to meeting, and for a second he could just see how much it had made her smile when she’d had a reason to tease him. That was one of the things that the two women had in common, their love of teasing him. “Right now, she’s the only person I can see following you up.”

“Savvy she has issues, not like the kind you deal with but… she doesn’t seem to be able to take in that people like her, that people care about her.” He sighed and shook his head, he knew this was the problem, and this was why he was so confused right now. “Two weeks ago, after Pride told us we had some leave. I went to tell her and there was this moment.” His mind put him back in the office after they were put on leave, and he flush embarrassed all over again. “I almost kissed her, I would have, but she walked away.”

“I messed that up, because I shouldn’t have pushed it. She was right when she called me an ass.” Percy had never been one to mince her words, and that was one thing that she’d been damn right about. He shouldn’t have pushed her when she said she couldn’t take it on. “I just hadn’t felt like that about anyone since you, and I don’t wanna lose that.”

He took a deep breath and sighed, feeling a little bit better now that he’d laid it all out, even if it had been to a ghost. When had he opened up that much, he hadn’t planned on it, but it had helped. “Honestly though, I’m doing OK. I’m stressed and worried, but I’m OK. I’m going to be more careful, and try to be more sensible. You would have kicked my ass if you could’ve.” He didn’t even need to think about that, he knew she’d kick him.

“I miss you still, Savvy. Think I probably always will.” Regardless of what happened with anyone else, he’d still miss Savannah and wonder what could have been. He’d let go though, that was the most important step. All of this was about letting go. “I’ll try to visit more next year.” He knew that was a lie, he wouldn’t, he’d go back to work and continue trying to forget everything. It was easier than facing it all.

Suddenly he was aware of movement behind him, and he stood up quickly. Not knowing who it was but absolutely certain that whoever it was, he didn’t want to have to explain this. He just stood with his hand on the headstone when a voice spoke up behind him. “You good there, baby brother.”

“Yeah, I just came and talked to her.” Cade didn’t really need to know what was on Chris’ mind, though since Cade had stayed on his meds he’d become remarkably observant. He’d probably known something was bothering his brother the whole time he’d been home. Hadn’t asked though, hadn’t pushed. That had been what was needed.

“It help?” Cade asked a very simple question, and it was one that LaSalle wasn’t entirely certain he had the answer to. How would he know if it had helped until he got home. He maybe had more of an idea what to do, that was the hope at least. If he stopped trying to put the face on he could just admit that he still had no idea what he was going to do.

“I don’t know. I think so?” He phrased it as a question, because while he didn’t want to admit that he was as adrift as he was, LaSalle was absolutely certain that Cade had already figured it out. 

“Wanna try talking to someone who can actually reply  _ now _ ?” From the sounds of that, Cade was going to tell his brother what he was thinking no matter what. This was going to be a situation where admitting it all would be easier than the slow torture that Cade would cause as he dragged the information out. “You having girl trouble?” There was a moment where all LaSalle could do was stare, then he tried to work it out.

“How the hell did you know?” He spluttered after a few seconds, just to be met with that cocky smile that Cade wore when he’d managed to catch LaSalle out on something. It was nice to see that that was still something that could happen. 

“The look on your face. It’s obvious!” Cade clearly knew more than he ever let on, and LaSalle just hoped that there wouldn’t be any awkward conversations, anything that he would have to explain, because while he’d managed to push himself to talk to Savannah he really wasn’t ready to talk to Cade. Not in specifics. But maybe there was still some advice he could be given.

“Cade… I don’t know what to do.” That statement was probably the least necessary thing Chris had ever uttered. It was obvious he didn’t know what to do yet he still felt the need to say it. Maybe it was the fact they were still stood by Savannah, or maybe it was that he’d already broken it down. He just carried on talking.

“What do you wanna do? Tell her?” Cade asked, and while for a second it sounded sarcastic LaSalle quickly realised that that was exactly what he was asking, and simultaneously saying was what should be done. “Being honest is the first way to go.”

“What if she don’t feel the same?” That was his fear. Percy had pulled away, walked out of the office and said that she’d see him later. They hadn’t so much as text in the last two weeks. He’d heard from everyone else, though Brody less than he’d expected. But not a single word from Percy.

“Then you took a chance and lost.” Was it really that simple? LaSalle claimed he liked no fuss, but was anything really that clear cut and simple. He tried and if it didn’t work out at least he’d tried? That seemed ridiculous, yet at the same time he could tell it was probably the truth. “We’ve all done it.”

“Do you think that I stand a chance?” Maybe he just needed to hear someone else say that he could get a girl like Sonja Percy, or maybe he just needed the reassurance that someone else thought he could do this. Either way, all he needed to hear that he stood a chance.

“Sure you do. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be this pathetic.” Cade’s response was not exactly the glowing vote of confidence that he’d been hoping for, but at this moment he’d take it. Then the second part of the statement sank in, and LaSalle narrowed his eyes and pretended to be offended.

“Pathetic?” He yelped, and after a few seconds couldn’t help but split into a smile. He knew that Cade was teasing, but it was still fun to react as harshly as he could. After a moment both brothers were laughing, and LaSalle was feeling lighter.

Cade just shook his head as the laughter trailed off, then the two of them started walking toward the cars on the paved road through the cemetery. “Aren’t you going back to New Orleans today?”

“Yeah, we’re back at work tomorrow.” After two weeks leave he was actually looking forward to getting back to work. Tomorrow they would catch up on what they’d missed, and get the outcome of the investigation. Then the day after they’d be back on open cases. That didn’t explain why Cade was there though, not entirely. He was sure there was something else to come. “You come to see me off?”

“Told momma I’d make you promise to visit her more often. Tabby wants to see you too.” He was not surprised that his mom and sister had bugged Cade into making him agree to come home more. The fact that Cade had been the one absent for so long meant that he had a little more pull. “You’re only down the interstate.” Cade reasoned, and LaSalle nodded with a smile.

“I’ll try, when work let’s me out.” Work was work, and really work was his life. He would try to get home more though. Maybe if he played his cards right he could eventually have someone to bring back with him. He needed to play that slow though, he knew that was the only way to make something with Percy work. As the reached their cars LaSalle embraced his brother and smiled softly. “I’ll call you when I get back.”


	4. Chapter 4

Every night for ten days, Percy had ended up in the bar. Most nights she’d had Patton and Sebastian with her. Some nights she’d been alone, or she’d just sat chatting with Buckley when nothing was busy. She was finding she actually liked the bar manager, and he was definitely a fun guy to be around. He certainly took his job seriously too. She’d been expecting to be alone tonight, then Sebastian and Patton had turned up, and she was certain they were both as excited to know that the NCIS team would be back at work in the next 24 hours. “So, everyone is back tomorrow?” Sebastian asked suddenly after a few minutes of silent drinking.

“Yeah, King wanted us all in the office at 9 to catch up on what we’ve missed.” Percy was certain that they couldn’t have missed that much. Agent Hardy’s team would continue working on the cases they’d been handling, just new cases would come back to the New Orleans team. Maybe it was more to get them all back in the swing of things, either way, they’d be back at work in the morning.

“That include me? I know what you’ve missed.” Patton sounded a little annoyed by it, he was the only member of the team who hadn’t ended up going on leave, and since Loretta had been gone with the boys, Percy was fairly sure that only he and Sebastian had been working with agent Hardy’s team as they’d covered the cases.

“I think he expects you in  _ on time _ P.” She teased, knowing that the one thing that Patton often struggled with was getting into the office on time, and he was rarely there before the agents. Percy doubted he’d ever been there before Brody, and she could only think of a handful of times he’d been there before she’d gotten there.

“Well damn, I should get me some beauty sleep.” He smiled back, taking a longer swig of his bottle of beer. They all knew that none of them would leave until Buckley kicked them out and told them to go home, so Patton’s beauty sleep would wait another hour or so.

“Does that work?” Sebastian deadpanned. For a moment even Percy struggled to tell if he was joking, then she caught the tiny upturns at the corners of his mouth and started laughing, while Patton was still just staring in momentary confusion, which actually caused her to laugh even harder.

“Hey, danger.” Patton said eventually when he could speak again, and that caused both Percy and Sebastian to just snort. All three of them trailed off into silence again and watched Buckley cleaning some things away from a far booth.

“You spoke to any of the others while you’ve been on leave?” Sebastian asked, clearly not feeling great with the silence tonight. Percy didn’t really mind though, she came here so that she didn’t have to deal with the silence. She liked being on her own and doing things her own way, but she’d gotten used to having people around her now, it wasn’t as easy as she’d once thought to be on her own.

“I text Merri pretty much every day, got a few off King, I tried to vacation though.” She smiled a little, and ‘try’ really was the operative term for what she’d done. She had gotten out of New Orleans for a few days. Then she’d come back, preferring to be here than there. Of course, Patton knew this, as he’d had to chase her out of the office at one point.

“You spent three days with your parents then started coming here every night.” Sure enough, Patton broke her cover. But she had a way to deal with that. Something she could say that would make him be quiet, or at least stop both the men she was drinking with from asking her anything else for a moment.

“Maybe I have a crush on Buckley.” She smiled as the bar manager walked past. Pride had made a good choice, in the end. Buckley was not at all put off by the things that the NCIS agents and their consultants said to him, and he had a great sense of humour. Enough to just join in most of the conversations, and to poke as much fun at them as they did at him.

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth Buckley was shaking his head with a horrified smile. “Don’t bring me into this, I have a job to do. I only let you three stay past closing since you work with King in his other job.” Buckley was actually more patient than most people would be, but Percy got the impression that he enjoyed feeling like he was part of something too.

“Speaking of King, I expected him to be back by now.” Patton spoke up, and Percy had to look around for a moment and nod. She knew that his tour had ended, so today she’d been expecting him to be here, making sure that nothing had been destroyed in his absence. Clearly though that was not what had happened.

“He spent last night in Florida with Merri, she said they’d be driving back up today.” Sebastian was the one with the answer, and both Percy and Patton split into grins. One look to her friend told her that he was thinking the same thing she was. Though she didn’t necessarily agree with Patton’s theory, it was an interesting development.

“Oh really?” Patton smirked after a moment, and Percy looked up to see Sebastian looking between the two of them clearly confused. Given that his little crush on Brody over the last couple of months had been obvious, Percy wasn’t surprised that he’d missed some of what the others had been thinking.

“What am I missing?” The confusion that was clearly written across Sebastian’s face made her feel a little bad, it was like kicking a puppy when he pulled a face like that. She thought it was funny but it still made her feel a little bad for doing it, so she decided that she’d let him in, rather than make him figure it out on his own like Patton would.

“P thinks King has a bit of a thing for Merri, he probably does but that won’t be why he stayed.” She agreed Pride had a thing for Brody, but he was not the type to act on it without reason. Given how messed up Brody had been before they went on leave, he probably had wanted to know that she was ready to come back. “The tour ended down there last night, he probably wanted to check up on her after Russo.” That was why most of them had probably been texting Brody every day, just to make sure she was OK. 

“He  _ does _ have a thing for her, he just would never act on it because he’s a sissy.” Patton was a little bit more outspoken about Pride’s possible feelings on Brody, and Percy did not have the ability to argue back. Patton had known Pride longer than almost all of them, other than LaSalle and Loretta, so she took his word for most things.

“What makes you think he has a…” Sebastian started, clearly wondering why they were both so sure that Pride had more than platonic feelings for their other friend. He never managed to finish his sentence, as they were all distracted by the doors opening and two very familiar voices. 

“Look just because I almost drove into a lake when I was 16 did not make me a bad driver.” That was a conversation that Percy wanted to know the context of, and Brody was seeming to argue it passionately. The first question that sprang to mind was how she  _ almost _ drove into a lake, the second was how was that a relevant topic of conversation right this moment, given that Brody was in her late 30s. 

Neither newcomer seemed to have noticed there were actually people in the bar. They just continued with the conversation, and watching them made Percy think that maybe Pride’s feelings for Brody weren’t quite as unrequited as they were all thinking. “It makes you a pretty bad driver. I admit, you’re better now. Though you did sleep from Orlando to Tallahasse.”

“That was your fault, you’re the one who got in the driver side when we left.” Brody yelped, and Percy had to cover a snigger at that. That was the most married thing she’d heard anyone say in a long time, and she wondered if she was the only one picking up on that.

“I was following your lead!” Pride’s response said almost as much as Brody’s accusation, and that was just making Percy laugh more. She thought that it was probably time she bring their attention to the fact they had an audience, just in case it get even more awkward. Given how private both Brody and Pride were, Percy was pretty sure that if they were finally working on whatever was bubbling below the surface with them, they’d want to do it without an audience of their closest friends.

“Is this a private conversation or are you gonna clue the rest of us in?” She said loudly, knowing that right now something subtle was not going to get either of their attention. Actually saying that they wanted to know what was going on would probably shut the conversation down faster than anything else.

“Oh, hi.” Brody paused, giving a furtive sideways glance to Pride that told everyone in the room that that discussion was definitely not over. Percy just chuckled again and shifted up a little in her seat, despite the fact that the bar was empty and they had all the space in the place.

“I thought you would have closed up by now?” Pride said, but the smile on his face showed that he wasn’t annoyed by it at all. Probably because he knew that it was only the team who would be let in while Buckley was cleaning up. Most nights closing wouldn’t be this early either, but given that it was Sunday, and even a bar needed one night off a week, this was the exception.

“These three tend to stay until I kick them out.” Buckley teased, and Percy couldn’t help but stick her tongue out from behind King’s back with a grin, which only seemed to spur the bar manager on. “They aren’t the best patrons.”

“Damn good friends though.” Pride replied with a smiled and clapped Patton on the shoulder before looking around the assembled members of his team. Percy was not about to turn down a compliment, and from the nods of everyone else she gathered they were in agreement. “How about we all have a drink before calling it a night.”

Percy stood where she was, watching as Buckley, Brody and Sebastian moved away a little, talking about whatever common thread the three of them had, instead of trying to work out what  _ that _ was she thought about how Pride had spent his two weeks, and she wondered if he’d actually enjoyed being on tour. “How was the tour?” 

“It was alright, did you get rest?” Of course he would turn the question back on her. He was more worried about his team than he was about himself. That was the one thing that had remained the same since her first experience with this team. She noticed his occasional glances toward Brody, but didn’t take it personally, she was the one who’d been hurt most.

“Some, saw my folks for a couple of days. They live up in Baton Rouge now.” Hopefully Patton would not say exactly how accurate a ‘couple’ of days was, as she really didn’t think Pride would be that happy that she’d literally only spent two days away, especially when almost everyone else had been away the whole two weeks. “Then came back here.”

“Spent every night since riding with me and Bash too. It was damn lonely with you guys all gone.” Patton’s comment couldn’t have been more accurate. Not matter what the situation was, it had been lonely without the rest of the team. “We’ll be glad to have you all home.”

“You have fun with Merri, King?” She couldn’t help but ask, and she made sure she had a little teasing smile on her face. By now she was sure that he knew what Patton thought about all this, and getting in on it seemed like the fastest way to go to knowing if they were right. This team liked to talk.

“I stayed one night, it was a good job too she slept most of the drive back.” There was a defensiveness to that statement that she hadn’t expected, and from the look Patton gave her, he hadn’t expected it either.

“We heard that when you came in.” Patton clearly decided that it was time for him to ask something, rather than putting all the prodding on her. She had no idea when she and Patton had become teammates in this, but it was something. “She coping?”

“Better than she was when she left.” Pride didn’t even try to hide where his gaze was now, and Percy noticed that he didn’t take his eyes of Brody’s back when he resumed speaking. It was actually sort of sweet to see. “She still has some things to work out, but she’ll get there, we all will.” They were having a quiet moment when the door opened again and the last person she wanted to see came through the door.

“Hey, is this a party nobody invited me to?” LaSalle had a grin on his face, and she managed to smile as he came to join everyone. She tried to make it look natural, like she was as happy to see him as anyone, but really she was still trying to wrap her head around the awkwardness that was the almost-kiss from two weeks earlier. As clear as Pride and Brody’s changing dynamic was, was as murky as the change between her and LaSalle.

“Christopher, how did you know?” Pride asked, and gave his friend a hug, this time it was Percy’s turn to shy away to the back of the group, leaving the rest to welcome him to this impromptu gathering. The only person missing was Loretta, and she was probably at home with the boys. Where she needed to be.

“Saw the lights on as I was driving home.” He was getting home this late? She guessed he’d been with his family. He could stand to be around them for more than a few hours. Clearly though, he was glad to be back with the team too. “Good to see you King, have a good tour?”

“It was great, yeah.” The same dodge that Pride had given her. Percy wondered for the moment whether or not Pride had actually enjoyed himself on the tour. Nobody else seemed to be concerned though, so she let it go for now. Instead of listening to the rest of the conversation she let her mind wander a little, and tried to work out what she was going to say when it was her turn with LaSalle.

“Momma and Cade say hi, by the way.” LaSalle’s comment sounded like the end of a conversation, and it was what drew her back into the moment. Thinking about what was coming next was probably a good thing, but she needed to be paying attention too. She was better than this, or she should have been after all the time she spent undercover.

“When you call them say hi back.” Pride then gripped LaSalle’s shoulder for a second with a smile and pulled away a little, his eyes searching the bar until they found Brody again. “I’m gonna go convince Merri to go home. P you want a ride?” It was clear that Pride was giving her and LaSalle a minute alone, and she was both angry at him for that and thankful.

Almost the moment the others were out of earshot, LaSalle turned to her and spoke quietly. This was what she’d been dreading, this was the kind of conversation she avoided having. Even if it started slowly it was not going to go how she wanted it to. At this point though she couldn’t avoid it, they needed to address it somehow. “How are you doing?”

“I’m alright, have a good trip?” That was a bland question, why did she ask that question? She would have kicked herself if she could have. It wouldn’t have helped at all, but it was bland and it was how friends spoke. It was what most of the conversations around her were. This was not going to stay that way for long.

“Yeah, look… I know I was a bit awkward a couple of weeks ago.” LaSalle’s comment was even quieter than everything else they’d just talked about. Even she was having trouble hearing him, and she was stood next to him. After a second she knew she was going to need to put her foot down and be firm. She didn’t owe an explanation.

“Chris, look. When I said I can’t take it on I mean that I can’t take it on.” Relationships got in the way. She’d seen that and had it proven to her time and again. All it did was cause mess and entanglements. It might work for other people, but it wasn’t going to work for her. They had a good friendship, she didn’t want to ruin that. “Let’s just forget about it, please.”

“Alright, we’ll forget about it. I ain’t gonna stop caring about you though.” That she could probably get over. Everyone in this room cared for her in some way, whether she wanted them too or not. That was simply how this office worked. “That’s one thing that’s not gonna happen.”

“I think I can learn to deal with that.” She smiled a little and finished her bottle. “I’m gonna get home, I’ll see you in the morning.” There was nothing else she could say, and after saying goodbye to the others, promising to share stories with Brody at work, she let Sebastian walk her out until they split off to go in opposite directions. Now she was alone with her thoughts again maybe she could work something else out.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning had passed quickly, and despite the fact she and Pride hadn’t gotten back until almost midnight she’d slept well. The conversation and the company on the drive home had done wonders for her. Then she’d come into work, and the nerves had hit her all over again. They weren’t officially back yet, but they needed to get the office ready for the cases that would likely start raining in on them the following day. She was just sat setting up her new computer the way she liked it when Pride game in, and the look on his face told her it was time to face the music. He stopped by her desk and looked down at her for a moment and nudged her shoulder gently. “You ready?” He almost whispered it, clearly realising she didn’t want the others to know how much of a complex she’d given herself over this.

“No.” She said just as quietly, she did know that, ready or not this was going to happen. That was the problem with bad things, they always came eventually. She sighed a little and started to push herself up as he stepped away and threw his phone onto his desk. She was glad to see that almost everything had been patched up from the shooting two weeks earlier.

“Come on, DC is waiting for us.” His voice was soft, and that managed to make her a little more concerned. What if this didn’t go her way? What if she had to hand in her badge over this? She stood up anyway and started to follow Pride. No matter how nervous she was, she didn’t want to let the others know. She was pretty certain that Pride knew that she was struggling, but he wouldn’t tell anyone. “Percy, LaSalle. Time to face the music.”

“I’m so not ready for this, what if they don’t clear me?” She muttered quietly as she followed Pride, knowing that no matter what happened, the people who were going to be listening to the verdict with her had her back. They had proven that time and again, and she appreciated everything about that. Pride’s support, especially, meant a great deal to her.

“Merri, things will be fine.” He used her nickname again, and she smiled softly. She liked the way it sounded when he said it, and he was so very comforting, squeezing her shoulder and giving a gentle nod. It actually did help a little too, though the moment she saw the screen and it’s link to DC she started to frown again. “You’re fine, we’re fine. We’re OK.”

“I’m worried.” She admitted, glad that it seemed Percy and LaSalle were determined to pretend they couldn’t hear this conversation. Brody noticed that they also seemed to be trying to ignore each other. That was interesting, and something that she’d have to probe later. As it was she had something else to worry about, and she was terrified. “I don’t know what I’ll do if this doesn’t go my way.” 

“Trust me.” He said quietly as Percy and LaSalle started falling into place around them. She knew that it was coming but she still wasn’t really ready for this. The nerves were building up and she hated that. She didn’t like to be nervous or uncertain, she also didn’t like that she felt pressured. It was nearly over.

“Always.” She nodded a little, the only thing she trusted in her life without question was Dwayne Pride. she knew that no matter the situation he would be able to hold it together and she would never have to question what was going on. She stopped beside him and frowned a little more because she was so certain that this was going to go against her.

She stood with LaSalle and Pride either side of her, and Percy just a little in front. As they waited for the connection to DC she felt Pride’s hand slide into hers and give it a little reassuring squeeze. She nodded and tried to smile to herself, telling herself that things were going to be OK. At some point while listening to the outcome of the investigation she had slid her fingers between Pride’s, needing to feel the warmth of someone else.

The feel of Pride gently running his thumb over her knuckles helped calm her as she listened to the director telling her that she had done something that was necessary, and that while they would have preferred to interrogate Russo, she had needed to put her life as the priority. The praise for the entire team, and the commendation she was given for putting herself in so much personal danger meant that they were all cleared. 

LaSalle clapped his hands together and smiled around them, clearly ready to put this all behind him. Brody could understand that, but for the moment she was still just in shock. “We’re cleared. That’s a reason to celebrate.” LaSalle was still grinning and was clearly excited about the fact that he could celebrate.

“I think so, how about you two head to the bar, we’ll meet you there.” Given the time of day the bar wouldn’t actually be open yet, but Buckley would be setting up. She looked to the side for a minute, wondering what Pride wanted or needed right now. Probably to check up on her. “Buckley will let you in.” 

“Sure thing King.” LaSalle once again nodded to Percy, and Merri picked up on a moment of hesitation again from her friend. She changed her mind about waiting on that, and as soon as she got chance she was going to ask Percy if everything was alright with her. It was probably easier to ask that way.

“You alright Merri?” Sonja’s gentle question made her realise that maybe she wasn’t as good at hiding the fact that she was still worried, but that it was only a small amount now. It was back to her usual background amount of worry. Mostly she was relieved, and she could let go of Russo and everything he had caused.

“Yeah, thanks Sonja I’ll be fine.” She smiled and nodded, trying to let the relief she felt show. She’d been so wound up and stressed for so long that it felt a little strange to let that go. Both she and Pride stood and watched LaSalle and Percy walk out the main door, then listened for the sound of the gate closing. As soon as that happened, Pride moved around and stood right in front of her.

“See, I told you.” He just smiled, not pushing any more than that, but it was nice to hear those words. In this situation, she was glad that he’d been proven right. That she had really had nothing to worry about. She still thought the award he kept joking about putting her forward for was too much, but it was nice that he wanted to make her happy.

“Yeah, you did. Thank you.” In the darkest moments of the last two weeks she’d imagined herself being forced out of this place. She found she could think about being somewhere else, being with other people, but right now she couldn’t imagine her life without Dwayne Pride in it. She also couldn’t see herself having survived the last few months without his friendship.

“I had faith in you, Merri. I always have.” Pride was one of those rare people who could see the potential, see the good, in everyone he met. Including her. He’d never pushed her to talk about the  _ Moultrie _ , and he’d never pushed her to talk about this. All he’d done was make sure she knew he believed her, and that he was there for her.

“I know.” She did know, and more than that for the first time in years she believed it. Brody believed that Pride had absolute faith in her, and that was a new feeling. It was a new level of trust that, for a long time she’d been afraid of. As his hand stayed resting gently on her shoulder she managed to pull her eyes from the ground to meet with his.

His hand moved from her shoulder to the side of her neck, then lifted up to her cheek. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his, and she just smiled softly as he leant forward and pressed his lips to hers. After a second she loosened up and smiled a little, returning the gesture with a little more pressure, stepping forward to reduce the strain.

She had no idea how long they stood there, his arms wrapped around her waist while her’s were tangled together around his neck as they kissed. She’d known for months that things were changing between the two of them, but she’d never expected for it to go this far. She wasn’t unhappy though, quite the opposite. 

“That was…” She smiled, gently twirling the hair at the back of his head around her fingers as she stood catching her breath. It had been a very long time since she’d experienced a kiss that had literally stolen her breath from her, and she wasn’t sure why, but she’d convinced herself that it wasn’t something that could happen. Now she had the evidence.

“Unexpected.” He chuckled too, and she realised that he was happier about this then even she was. Was this the real reason he’d been so hesitant for the others to set him up with someone, or for Laurel or Loretta to help him find someone. Had he been waiting for her to see he was there. That was not a question that she was ready to ask though. 

“We should go join Chris and Sonja.” That distraction was likely more what they needed, as their friends would be waiting for them, probably wondering what had happened. She wasn’t sure she knew how to answer that.

“Yeah, we really should.” He whispered, dropping his forehead to her shoulder for a moment, and she wondered if that was what he wanted. Either way they had promised the other’s they’d be there soon, and they really didn’t need to be found in this position.

“You know you need to let me go for that?” She teased, not feeling him move at all. It was sweet, and somewhat romantic. Romance had never been her strong suit, more often than not it had made her uncomfortable. It was part of why she and James had worked. But this felt right.

“I don’t think I’m ready to do that just now.” Pride’s arms tightened around her momentarily, and she felt him rest his forehead softly against hers. “Things have been different between us since my divorce, but I’ve not wanted to push anything. I never thought that you would feel the same.” His voice was soft and honest, and she was glad to know that she hadn’t been imagining the change between them.

“Are you saying that… you wanted this?” She needed the clarification, and at his nod she broke into a wider smile. “Good, because so did I.” That was probably obvious to him at that moment. As she thought about it, her face started to fall again as the shadow that John Russo had cast over her psyche fell on her again. “I never would have gone with Russo if I’d have had any idea you felt the same as me.”

“That is the past Merri. You and me, we’re the future.” He lifted his head and kissed her forehead softly. She moved to press against him a little more. She had needed to hear that, because no matter the situation, she needed to know that he wasn’t going to be scared away. “Together, whatever happens.”

She took a deep breath and nodded gently, thinking about the other brand of fear in her life, and she knew that Pride knew her well enough to at least suspect it already. “You know, I’m terrified of losing people. I’m terrified that if I start something they are going to run away from me or I’ll push them away so…”

“Merri, I know you. I’m not going to let you sabotage something I think could be great.” He smiled again, letting go of her waist so that he could stroke her cheek, the other hand landing on her hip as she closed her eyes and thought about what she wanted. “We’ll work this out, I promise you.”

“I’m glad you believe that.” She nodded, and tried to shake the instant fear off. She trusted Pride, she even loved him in a way. He wasn’t going into this relationship blind, he knew the best and the worst of her. If he believed in them, then so did she.

“Now we really should go.” He told her and nodded toward the gate, she knew they did actually need to go, but she just wasn’t ready in that second to step away. She was enjoying having him close to her too much.

“There is just one more thing.” She took the opportunity to pull him close to her again and kiss him with as much passion as she could put into a kiss. Whatever happened that was going to be something she was going to enjoy getting to do whenever she needed. “OK there we go.”

“Come on, before we end up distracted again.” He grinned, kissing her softly just once more then stepping back and letting her gather her things. She could feel him watching her as she locked things away and slid other things into her pockets. 

Walking to the bar they ended up holding hands again. She rationalised it as not wanting to get separated on the busy street, though she was fairly sure that neither of them wanted to let go of the other after they had finally started making some progress in their relationship. They dropped hands before they walked in, and both were dragged in to separate conversations.

“You two get into a fight or something?” Percy was the first one with a question when they finally got to the bar. Merri slid into the stool beside her and shook her head. Fight was not what had happened, though given how long they’d been she could understand why that was the first thought.

“No, we just had something to discuss.” Brody suddenly remembered that, when it wasn’t related to work, she wasn’t actually all that good at keeping secrets. She tended to like to get the opinions of others, but this was something that she didn’t want to share just yet. Eventually, when she knew how she felt, she would. Right now though, it needed to stay private.

“All done with now?” The smiled Percy gave made Brody think that the other woman realised that she didn’t want to talk about it right now. Percy was far more perceptive than anyone gave her credit for at times, and that made Brody even happier that Percy had chosen to switch over and join their team.

“Yeah, we figured it out.” She didn’t clarify any further, and instead of thinking about what had just happened at the office she turned her attention to the dozens of text messages she’d gotten from Percy over the last 14 days, and all of them were very much appreciated. “Thanks for the texts over the last couple of weeks. Though the bee puns every hour was possibly a little more than necessary.” How had she done that? Even in the night they’d come every hour.

It was obvious that Percy had thought that was hilarious, and one of the first big jokes she’d brought to the team had been bee puns. It was a nice little memory, and had made Merri feel better every day. “Bet you laughed at every one of them though.” 

“You got me, I admit it.” She shrugged and laughed, as her eyes roamed the rest of the bar they fell on where Pride and LaSalle were stood talking with Patton about something, and she remembered that she’d wanted to find out what was happening there. “What’s going on with you and Chris?”

“I don’t even know, honestly.” That didn’t sound great. Percy was normally one of the most decisive and certain people that Brody had ever met. The fact that she didn’t know what was going on made her curious. “We had an awkward moment, another in a series of awkward moments meant to be ignored.”

“Maybe if you’re having that many awkward moments it means something.” Wasn’t that exactly what she and Pride had just ended up acting on. A series of moments that she could have continued ignoring. Either way, Percy needed to talk to LaSalle about whatever was in her mind. “You should probably talk to him about it.”

“Probably, and maybe we will… when I need to.” Of course Percy would want to avoid that. She was almost as bad as Brody herself for avoiding things that were right in front of her. The one thing that Brody could say about that was that it likely wasn’t the best way to go about it.

“Not always the healthiest way to go.” She commented then held her hand up before Percy could say anything about the fact that she was the champion of avoidance. “Not that I can talk.” She trailed off, and was sure that Percy would know everything to which she was implying. 

“Well.” Came another little nod as they both sipped the drinks that were slid in front of them every time their glasses were empty. “Merri you can’t blame yourself for what Russo did, he was clearly planning it long before he met you.” For some reason that always just made her feel worse, even though it was true. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, I’m teaching myself that.” She was trying to, at least, and Pride was making sure that she didn’t blame herself more than she had reason to. “I’m getting there. I have help.”

“The ex? Good. I’m glad.” Why was that the first guess of anyone when she was happier about something or said that she was getting help. Her mother had assumed James had put in an appearance too, though there was a chance that was wishful thinking more than actually believing he had.

“Something like that, sure.” Brody was not going to say that, no, it was just their boss, so letting her think that James was back on the scene might be easier. At least for now. She’d tended to keep James very private, so she hoped that nobody would probe. “You’re a good friend Sonja, if you need anything just give me a call, you know where I am.” Hopefully then if there was a problem she could help with around LaSalle her friend knew that she’d listen. Things were clearly changing for them all, and it wasn’t going to be easy.


	6. Chapter 6

Pride couldn’t help but occasionally look over at Brody, even once they were in the bar and were drawn into separate conversations. He couldn’t really believe that they’d made the move that they had back at the office, but he was glad that they had finally done something. He’d known things were changing for some time, but he hadn’t wanted to push her, and he’d never thought that she felt the same as he did. Clearly his gaze was lingering a second too long as he heard a cough and his attention was drawn to LaSalle and his grin. “You get everything sorted with Merri?” 

“I think so.” He didn’t want to say yes or no, as he and Brody had a lot the still needed to talk through, and that was for what they were doing at the moment. He hadn’t even thought about getting into her issues, though that was going to be something that he had to help her through. 

“She still blaming herself?” LaSalle was more observant than he was often given credit for, and he knew Brody almost as well as Pride did, of course he’d worked out that her problems would have led to her blaming herself for everything again. They’d been stood by her side when the  _ Moultrie _ investigation had been reopened, and while he hadn’t been there for her interrogation, he’d certainly worked enough out. 

“She’s going to be doing that for a long time, rightly or wrongly.” Pride looked to her again, and seeing her look over at the same time. They shared a soft smile before she returned her attention to Percy and Buckley. He turned back to LaSalle and shrugged a little. “I wish she wouldn’t, but it’s not in her nature.”

“We should try and talk her around.” That was pointed, but true. They should try, but they’d fail and could possibly push Brody to the point where they couldn’t easily pull her back. He wasn’t eager to see how far that line was, and at the same time he knew that she would still punish herself anyway.

“Surely you remember from last time, that’s not going to be easy to do. She punished herself for years over the  _ Moultrie _ .” Close to a decade, until they’d solved Emily’s murder Pride didn’t think that Brody had let herself let go. This time, she’d been the saviour, but people had still died. “There were casualties this time too, and Merri feels responsible for them.”

“She shouldn’t. It wasn’t her fault Russo fooled her, fooled all of us.” While that was true, there was a personal element to the betrayal for Brody. The rest of them only had that second hand. From all accounts, she’d spent the night with him, and less than 18 hours later he’d tried to kill them all.

“You know it’s not the same.” He didn’t want LaSalle, or anyone, trying to equate what had happened to them to how it had been for Brody. It had been far more personal for her, and far more devastating. He’d watched her battling with these demons ever since she’d come here, this was a setback she hadn’t needed. “We’ll help her through it though.” 

“Yeah, you and Merri have a good partnership, you make it work.” Pride had to admit that that was one benefit of adding a fourth agent. He’d been able to play with the partnerships, and it had ended up working well that he team up Percy and LaSalle, and that he’d then teamed up with Brody. “Suit each other better than we ever did too.” OK, that he couldn’t argue with.

“Same with you and Sonja, I’m glad you and her managed to make a partnership work.” There was a pull behind LaSalle’s smile that Pride couldn’t quite read, but suddenly it was less genuine, less bright. Deciding that he’d change the subject, slightly, and see how that went. If LaSalle needed more time it could be arranged. “You ready to get back to work?”

It was clear from the look of relief across LaSalle’s face that the small change in subject was enough, and that led Pride to believe that gossip was the cause of the hesitation. “Yeah, only so much down time I can take.” 

“Isn’t that the same for all of us?” It was a slightly sarcastic response, but he couldn’t help it, and at the look on LaSalle’s face he was both extremely amused by it, and a little bit confused. Though that wasn’t too much of a surprise, since Pride never truly stopped working, he just did something else for a while.

“You didn’t exactly have down time, and what’s this I hear about you spending the other night with Brody?” Well, that hadn’t taken long to make it into the grapevine. It sounded more sinister, and more involved, than it was. He had stayed in her room, on the sofa, and they’d both been too tired by the end of the gig to even speak much. Then they’d argued all the way back to New Orleans. 

“I stayed the last night in Florida with her so we could share the driving coming home.” He chuckled to himself, and every time he replayed their car trip home in his mind he found something else that he could laugh about. “Nothing untoward in that.”

“Of course not. I’ve seen the videos.” LaSalle’s chuckle made Pride pause for a moment, he didn’t remember any videos being taken. Certainly none by him and Merri. He didn’t doubt that LaSalle had seen something though. He wouldn’t have mentioned them otherwise. 

“What videos?” He had to admit that he was kind of intrigued to see them, and also who had gotten them. He was sure there was an explanation, but as to what it was, he wasn’t going to wait for LaSalle to give up his sources. 

“You and Merri on the piano.” That, suddenly, seemed to explain it all. He knew there were videos on YouTube, and a few other places no doubt. He just hadn’t been sure they would have made it back to New Orleans yet, or that there would be videos of him and Brody on the piano. Obviously, something showed on his face as LaSalle decided to continue with his observation. “You looked good.”

“I think I’m going to end this conversation right here, or I could ask about you and Sonja, don’t think I didn’t notice that you two weren’t talking to each other today.” Given all he’d seen, and all that he knew about the two agents, he was willing to bet that it wasn’t a topic of conversation that LaSalle would want to get into right now.

Sure enough after a second he just smirked and nodded. “Alright, leave the conversation about the piano alone. I hear you loud and clear.” Something about that smirk made Pride think that he wasn’t entirely going to forget about it, but for now it was being left well alone.

The rest of the evening passed in quiet camaraderie, the table nearest the piano being occupied by the four agents, and everyone else leaving them well alone. It was probably obvious that they needed the time and space tonight, and even Buckley only came over to check on their drinks every so often. He and Brody were sat on one side of the table, while LaSalle and Sonja had sat on the other. 

“Hey guys, I’m going to bounce.” Percy was the first to look down at her watch then sigh softly. It was getting late, and they would all have work in the morning, or less if a case came up. Clearly, that was exactly where Percy’s thoughts had been. “Need to get some sleep because if I don’t we’ll get a case super early.”

“She has a good idea, actually.” LaSalle drained the last of his drink too then stood up with a smile. Watching them both gathering their things he looked to Brody, glad to see that she didn’t seem to have any desire to leave too. He stopped and looked up again as LaSalle turned back to them. “See you all in the morning.” 

“Bye Sonja, Chris.” Pride and Brody both said at the same time. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that, and he was glad that everyone else was still staying away. Watching the two agents leave he was aware that he and Brody were left alone in the corner where the agents normally congregated when it was just the four of them. 

He just looked her over for a second and smiled, thinking that another night away from the bar, and Buckley was there, he could sort the place out. “You know, Buckley can handle things here, and we should really talk.” He left it hanging, letting her decide where they were to go next. 

“Come to my place.” Brody said, and it wasn’t really a question either. After a second he just smiled, nobody could ever claim that she was indecisive. She was obviously certain that she wanted to talk about this now, and he was actually OK with that. They needed to speak, and if she was ready now then he could be too.

“When?” He just wanted to be certain, because there was so much the probably should have done before getting to this point at all. On the other hand though, he was quite happy to actually talk now they had already made the move. 

“Right now, come with me.” Again, she was being decisive and he loved it. Pride had always known that when she wanted something she went after it as hard as she could. It seemed like this potential relationship was included. He got up and spoke quickly to Buckley, then went to the door and wrapped an arm around Brody’s shoulder before they’d even left the bar. “We have to walk though. I left my car at home this morning.” 

“Good job you live nearby then, isn’t it.” He teased softly, turning to walk down the street toward her place. Pride was suddenly thankful that he remembered the way, since he’d walked back with Loretta a few times. They walked in silence for a while, then he decided that telling Brody that there were videos of her on the piano, since she’d been quite shy about it at the time. “Chris has seen a video of us on the piano together.”

“Of course he has, nothing can stay secret.” She laughed softly, shaking her head as her arm slid around his waist. It made him happy to feel that she was comfortable with him. Though she was right about secrets, nothing seemed to stay secret in their team for long.

“There are a lot of rumours about my night in Florida.” He admitted, and even though he didn’t want to play into the rumours and the grapevine, he wanted to let her know that there were rumours. She was friends with enough people in other offices that it was going to get around.

“Let them talk, we know what happened.” She was more philosophical about it than he’d ever experienced her being before. It was something though, and he was a little happy to know that she wasn’t going to be embarrassed about them. “Besides, does it matter? Given what we did at the office, how we’re walking right now?” He took that opportunity to kiss her temple and felt her squeeze his waist softly in return.

“I would love nothing more than to tell the whole world that I’ve been crazy about you for months… but we have careers.” He had to accept that. No matter what happened between them, they would only be able to be a certain amount of public with it.

“Nobody needs to know. I know that it’s not perfect, and that we should want to tell our friends but I don’t.” She turned her head a little to look at him, and he just nodded then leant forward to kiss her once softly, letting her know that he agreed with that. “I want to learn what this is, and what we are, before we tell them anything.”

“Merri, I’ll do whatever you need when it comes to telling people.” He felt like she needed to know that he was accepting of the fact that she didn’t want to tell anyone. He wished that he could, but for the moment he was happy keeping it private, at least up until a point. Eventually he’d need to tell some people, and that led to his only request. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Depends on what it is.” She clearly knew that he wasn’t going to ask her something she wouldn’t agree to, and that was when he remembered that she knew him just as well as he knew her.  It was an easy thing to ask, he thought.

“When we do tell people, we tell Laurel first.” His daughter deserved to know that he’d moved on before anyone else. She’d been desperately trying to get him to start dating for months, and he wanted her to know that he could do it alone.

“How was that even a question, of course Laurel is first.” Brody’s face told a story, and he almost couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, though really in the end he let it out. He was still stood there when there was a momentary look of panic that crossed Brody’s features. “I’ll need to eventually tell my mother.”

“That is something we can tackle another day.” He grinned as she pushed the door open to the house. She then let him in first, and he slid through the door and waited for her to join him before he continued speaking. “For right now, while we’re here, I want to enjoy the fact that I can do this.”

“Hmm, I think I can get used to that too.” Brody smiled, and he leant forward to kiss her softly. Then, after a moment, she pulled back and looked at him, clearly worrying all of a sudden about the decision that they’d made. “King… Should we really be doing this?”

“Merri, the one thing that recent events have proven to me is that I love you, and I don’t think that we’re doing something wrong.” Normally he wouldn’t tell someone he loved them the first day they’d made a move, but this wasn’t the first day, not really. This feeling had been there for months. He thought this was perfect, but what mattered was Merri, and what she thought.  “What matters though, is that you think we should do this.”

“We probably shouldn’t, but I don’t want to stop.” That was what he’d wanted to hear. She wanted this to work, and he was happy about that. “We can work it out, that’s what you said. Right?”

“Exactly.” He just pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. The rest of the night was mostly a blur, and soon enough he was falling asleep with her curled up in his arms. Satisfied, sweaty and generally very happy with the way the evening had progressed. He’d never thought that he’d be one of those guys who was like this before they’d even been on a date.

As he settled to sleep with one of the most beautiful women he’d had the pleasure of knowing, he thanked whatever power in the universe that had caused her to feel the same for him. He laid whispering silly things in her ear until her breathing evened out. He didn’t expect her to still be asleep when he woke up, but given he knew she didn’t sleep much, this felt like a privilege. 

He was not asleep for long enough before he was roused from his slumber, hearing his phone ringing off to one side, he rolled over slightly, hearing the complaining groan from Brody, and as soon as he’d grabbed his phone he rolled back and laid how he had been, answering his phone quietly. “Pride.” He frowned then as he was given information and an address, then told his team would be required. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” He then hung up and started kissing Brody’s bare shoulder in an effort to wake her up. “Mere, we need to get up.”

“Urgh, why?” She did not sound happy about waking up, and even though her eyes were still closed he kissed her gently, trying to convince her, finally, to open her eyes. It took another minute, but eventually she groaned and opened her eyes.

“Dead marine in the quarter.” He told her, and that was basically all the information he had. Sometimes he wished they had more to give him when they were called in, but instead he would make sure his team figured it all out.

“And just like that, we’re back to work.” She commented, and he just shook his head, laughing at the distasteful look on her face. They’d always known they’d be back today, but clearly she wasn’t actually ready to get back into it just yet. He was happy that they were getting there. “We don’t have time for a shower do we?”

“No, you can grab one at the office when we get back from the scene.” He could understand why she wanted a shower, after the night they’d had he could do with one too. He had enjoyed getting messed up too much to think about getting clean again. Brody clearly didn’t agree.

“Call Chris and Sonja, I’ll try to make myself smell less like you.” She was teasing him, and that just made it even more fun to lean in and kiss her hard. If they could afford the distraction he’d keep going. 

“Go on then.” He pulled away and laughed, looking at the look on her face. He was trying to find his clothes and things, waiting to see how this would go. He didn’t know how long Merri had stayed in bed watching him. “Merri, clothes.”

“Come here first, since I won’t be able to do this when we get to work.” She asked, and as he leant over her, she kissed him as hard as he had before. 

“OK, now can we get ready.” She smirked at his question, and he ended up laughing to himself. Of course she was enjoying this too, and now they’d made a huge leap he couldn’t imagine not waking up like this every morning. This was the move they’d desperately needed to make, after months of uncertainty, and he was happy that it had ended this way. He needed to get on with work though, and try to take his mind off the woman he’d woken up beside.


	7. Chapter 7

Chris LaSalle had been in a deep and comforting sleep. This type of sleep had only recently started coming back to him, but it was so often interrupted this way. The insistent ringing of his phone waking pulling him away from the comfort of sleep, and he knew before answering what this was going to be about, that didn’t stop him from barking in annoyance as he answered. “What?” 

“Dead marine in the Quarter.” Pride didn’t bother with a greeting, and the truth was that LaSalle was glad about it, given that he had just been woken up. This was the thing that he hated about their job. He hated that the ability to sleep past a certain point had been stolen from him forever, and the ability to survive on little to no sleep had been drilled into his brain.

“Are you kidding?” He asked, for a moment just wondering if this was Pride’s idea of a terrible joke. It wouldn’t actually bother him if it was, because he could roll over and go back to sleep if it was a joke. The truth was that Pride wasn’t the type who would play pranks with something that was so close to their every day job.

“Welcome back to work.” There was a female voice in the background, and LaSalle felt like he knew it, but he wasn’t certain. Pride’s voice was muffled as he gave a response, and there was a smile on his face at the fact that his friend had finally moved on from his ex wife. It really had been about right. It did make him wonder where exactly Pride was right now though. 

“Meet you there?” He decided that he’d leave the question about the woman until they weren’t on a case. He’d even add a reminder to his phone, that way eventually Pride would have to answer questions about it. It actually bothered him a little that he hadn’t been able to match it to a voice he knew, normally he was able to match up familiar voices, but this time it had had such a lack of an accent that he hadn’t been able to place it. “Need me to swing by the office.”

“You will, but I’ll bring the stuff from the office, I’ll also text you the address.” Pride clearly knew that LaSalle was trying to work out who he was with, as almost instantly the call was ended. That was not what he’d expected, but he found it a little hilarious. He then managed to push himself out of bed and got dressed and headed out the door. He was a little annoyed already that he was out before sunrise.

Approaching the crime scene he saw the ME’s van, meaning Loretta was already there, meanwhile, the only agent he could see was Percy. Somehow he wasn’t sure that it would go well, so he decided to keep it as neutral as was possible, and focused on working through the scene. “How the hell did you know we’d get a case?”

“What do you mean?” Percy’s confused response made him realise that she actually didn’t remember the teasing in the bar. At least that part of it maybe. He wasn’t going to spell it out for her entirely, but he would tell her something at least. They walked toward the scene slowly and he smiled a little, all the while looking for the other two agents.

“Leaving the bar early last night.” He grinned, trying to make it appear that he was far more prepared for this than he actually was. He didn’t want it to be this early, and it didn’t want it to be 4am at that. He wanted to be in bed, but this would do.

“I was tired.” She narrowed her eyes to him a little, and he just started to smirk. There was a golden teasing opportunity there, and she’d brought it all about herself. He couldn’t help it when someone actually opened the teasing for him without him having to think too hard about it all.

So he smirked and chuckled. “I’m sure you were.” He ended up trying to think of the easiest way to phrase another tease, but instead he just stifled a yawn and decided to tell her straight. They were both tired as it was far too early. “But you know we’d get a case, you mentioned that.”

“I didn’t know, but I had a suspicion.” The truth was that should really have had a suspicion. Of course they would get called out on their first night back. It was the criminal’s way of congratulating them for getting cleared and giving them a reason to come back time and again. “I expected Pride to be here first.”

“Normally I would.” He left it at that, deciding that it wasn’t really a good time to bring up his thoughts about where Pride had been the night before, or at least that he’d had company. Company that LaSalle wouldn’t have expected. Pride had seemed to not even want to think about it. “Let’s get started and we can fill him in when he gets here.”

“I’ll go check in with Ms Loretta, you check with the cops.” Getting information from the cops was something that both Percy and Brody were better at than he and Pride ever had been, and he honestly didn’t understand exactly how. But it seemed to work this way.

“Sure thing.” Percy looked a little grateful to be getting away, and while he could try feeling sorry for himself he decided to focus on the scene instead. Heading over to where Loretta was sitting studying the body. He was glad to see there really, it was actually like their team were all back together. 

“Ms Loretta, enjoy your camping trip?” He remembered Pride mentioning that Loretta was taking Danny and CJ camping while they were on leave. That amused him more than it probably should, because none of them could really imagine Loretta as an outdoorsy-type. It was the opposite of who she was.

“I can safely say that camping remains something I am not skilled at.” Loretta said with a smile. At least she could laugh about the fact that the entire team thought that she was in over her head when the boys had asking her to go camping. Not that anyone had truly said that to her. Other than Pride, who had the ability to do that. 

“Did the boys enjoy themselves?” That was probably the bigger question. It wouldn’t matter if Loretta couldn’t do it well, or if there was something that she couldn’t do if the boys had had a good time. 

“They’ve asked if we can go again before CJ is back in school. I said you and Dwayne could take them.” Why did it not surprise him that he had been nominated for this. Maybe it was because he enjoyed going out and camping and being out in the world, but how would Loretta know that. The truth was the he couldn’t imagine taking King on that trip. 

“What makes you think I’m better at camping than you?” He had to ask, because he didn’t think it was something he’d ever really spoken about with his team or anyone else who were related to them through work. He wasn’t sure when else he would have spoken about it, though he was sure he had.

“I heard you talking about going camping with Cade.” Loretta smirked, and he realised that this was probably payback for teasing Percy the way that he had. He did talk about camping with Cade. He didn’t know when he would have done that where Loretta could hear, but he totally believed that he would have at some time.

Chuckling he decided to ignore that and turn his attention back to the fact that he’d mentioned Pride would be going with them. It wasn’t a good idea at all, but he somehow imagined that Pride wouldn’t want people outside of their team knowing where he’d been the last couple of weeks. “You know King is not an outdoorsman either, right?” 

“Yes, but he would be funny at least.” Loretta’s words couldn’t have been more accurate, at least it would be funny to see Pride trying to camp for more than a few hours. It would probably have annoyed LaSalle if it ever came to pass though. “Speak of the devil.” Loretta smiled over his shoulder, and LaSalle wondered for a moment if she was trying to throw him off, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Loretta, you made it back. Did it get any better?” Pride said, and a quick look around the area showed that Brody had magically turned up too. That had to be a connection. Surely it was a connection, but maybe not what he was thinking. 

“No, not really.” LaSalle just stood back a little, assuming that Pride and Loretta had spoken “Don’t think that you’re getting away with telling me nothing about the last night of your tour.”

“You too?” Pride asked and turned to LaSalle, who just held his hands up and smirked a little. For some reason the fact that everyone was thinking the same about the last night in Florida was entertaining him, probably more than it should really. “Nothing happened.” Pride said stubbornly, and Loretta clearly decided to let him leave it at that, as she didn’t complain when he moved on. “Now, how about our victim?”

“Preliminary report is blunt force trauma.” LaSalle pulled his little notebook out, writing down anything that Loretta said that they could work on in the first few hours, before she’d get him on the table. It was something they could start basing their investigations on.

“Theories?” Pride asked, and LaSalle started thinking about what could have brought anyone down here at this time of night. He was only half listening to what Loretta was thinking and saying, but he was taking it all in. He was marking down his own observations too.

“A car, I’d guess. I’ll know more when I’ve done my full exam.” A car down here would be difficult, but not unheard of. He started looking around to see if there was any evidence of that, as somewhere like this it would actually be clear. “There is peri-mortem bruising on the hands and arms.”

“Assault?” LaSalle asked, turning back to Loretta at that. Somehow that would make more sense in his mind than anything else. A fight and something hitting him. Maybe something they hadn’t identified. 

“That would be my guess. They look defensive.” Loretta pointed to a few more wounds, and LaSalle marked down in his notes where they were. They weren’t even necessarily going to help him at all, but it was just what he did at crime scenes. It was a habit he couldn’t seem to break himself from.

“Let’s go see what the girls have.” Pride said after another few minutes of discussing possibilities with Loretta. Looking around they were both clearly trying to find where Percy and Brody were and figure out what it was that they were doing right now too.

“Brody’s here too? Good.” He tried to play dumb, he doubted it worked, but he was going to try anyway. Walking over he thought about things that they could start working on already investigate. They met up with the other two agents and all started sharing the information they’d discovered.

After trading the information it was obvious that Pride wanted to talk with some of the witnesses, and given that they all seemed to be slightly lecherous men, LaSalle wasn’t going to lie that he felt a little better when Pride looked between the two female agents and picked the one who was more senior. “Alright, Chris, Sonja, go and gather the evidence. Merri, with me.” 

“Notice they arrived together?” Percy asked as they started heading to the cordoned area where there were dozens of pieces of evidence flagged. All things that would have to be collected and processed through to Sebastian. This was going to take a while, but he didn’t mind too much as it gave him some sleep deprived time with Percy. “They seem to do everything together right now.” It was a fair observation, one he couldn’t refute.

“Brody’s place goes past the office on the way here.” He pointed out, after working through the route in his mind. If she had pulled over to help Pride bring stuff out here after two weeks of them not dealing with cases. No matter what he couldn’t see those two being the first ones to wake up and see what was right in front of them.

“Oh yeah, it would wouldn’t it?“ Percy traced the roads through the air and he had to stop himself from snorting at that image. It amused him far more than it should have done given that she wasn’t anywhere near as used to driving back from Loretta’s as the rest of them were.

“I can’t see those two actually doing something to solve the tension between them.” He continued, thinking that it would not be in Pride’s character to have actually done something that would make him happy. He was terrible for only doing things that made him miserable. The unspoken and unresolved tension between their colleagues had started before any of them had even knew Percy existed, so there was no reason for him to believe anything had changed. “It seems to work for them.”

“Doesn’t seem to work so well for us though, does it.” Percy’s response made im stop in his tracks for a moment, and he wondered if she realised that she’d done exactly what it had seemed like she hadn’t wanted to do, and that was address what had happened with them two weeks earlier

“No, it don’t.” He just agreed, deciding that that would be quicker than playing like he didn’t know what she meant, because he knew exactly what she meant, and he was really just happy that she’d brought it up.

“Can we just do a restart?” She asked, and that made him pause for a second. He didn’t know what that meant, and in a way it didn’t sound very pleasant for him. But at the same time it could be exactly what they needed. 

“What?” Finding out exactly what she meant by a restart, and trying to work out if it was something that he, or they, could benefit from would be easier if he understood exactly what was being meant.

Percy took a deep breath and it was obvious that she was maybe bringing this up against her own instincts, which wouldn’t really surprise him to learn, as there were some things he understood, even if he liked to pretend he didn’t. “Look, I miss you as my friend. I miss what we were like a few weeks ago.”

“I miss that too.” He admitted, because he really did miss the way they’d been back then. It had all been easy, then he’d almost been killed and they’d had to deal with that, then she’d almost been killed. It wasn’t easy to live through that so close together. 

“Then let’s reset, go back six weeks and build from there.” Percy smiled, clearly happy that he wasn’t trying to push anything on her. He understood loud and clear that she wasn’t ready for a relationship yet, and he wasn’t going to go faster than he needed to with that.

“That could be good for both of us.” That was obvious at this point, but he had felt the need to say it anyway. He just wanted to say that he agreed before he overthought too much and tried to add to it.

“I think it’ll help us.” Percy grinned and lead them to the beginning of the trail of evidence, and he thought of ways to start dividing the grid up so they could mark the position of everything before they gathered it. “So Country Mouse, how about we show those other two how good we are at this.”

“We have a lot to prove to them, City Mouse.” He teased then shook his head. Of course she’d try to make it a competition, but he kind of loved that idea.

“We have time.” Percy’s reply said a lot, and he couldn’t help but smile at it. It felt good to have some kind of resolution on everything, even if it wasn’t what he would have wanted. He’d rather have Percy in his life in whatever way he could than lose her entirely, and somehow he still felt like he possibly had a chance. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day he was still going to be in with a chance. He could wait, and that was the more important thing. He could wait to see where they were going.


	8. Chapter 8

Percy had ended up working on her own for a little while, not that she entirely minded. After recent events she actually kind of liked having her own time. Most of the time all four of them ended up working in the office together, and recently instead of her and LaSalle talking, they ended up listening to Brody and Pride bickering about something. She was trying to just work things out in her mind, alongside working. She was staring at their victim’s financials, realising that there was more than a little hinky about the account she was staring at. “Guys, you need to see this.”

“What’ve you got, City Mouse?” Of course LaSalle was first through the door. Brody was there as well, but she seemed to be hanging back, as always, when it came to her and LaSalle. “Some actual information?” OK that was a fair question. They had all seemed to be struggling a little to find actual information on their victim past the obvious.

“Financials on our victim.” She pulled it up on the screen above her desk, highlighting the biggest thing that was giving her pause, but it was far from the only thing that was unusual. It was just the most suspicious thing. “50 grand deposited three days ago, and 10 grand deposited every month for the last 6.”

“From who?” Brody was reading the file, so the question of course came from LaSalle. Not that it was all the surprising. “For what?” She turned to look at him, seeing that he was more thinking out loud than actually asking the question. She pulled up the other statements and had to admit, it was weird.

“I’m not sure yet, I’m tracing it but it’s going slow.” Percy was good at tracing, but sometimes it was faster to speak to the banks and the managers at the New Orleans branches. That tended to fall to Brody though, and she hadn’t even tried going down that line.

“Maybe the wife knows something about it?” Brody commented, and Percy turned back and nodded a little, thinking about how she couldn’t imagine managing to hide that much money from the person you were living with. Given that, of the four agents based in this often, Percy herself was the sketchiest, she doubted any of the others could either.

“Maybe.” She had to nod then they both turned to LaSalle. While Pride was down at the morgue he was in charge, and that meant he got to decide who did what. Generally they could take initiative, but it was best he tell them, just so they could say there had been some decision made. “Can’t imagine her not knowing.”

“Merri, you keep on the bank, you have some weird rapport with every bank manager in New Orleans.” LaSalle said exactly what Percy had been thinking a couple of minutes earlier. Brody had this weird rapport with the business community, and nobody really understood it, including Brody herself.

“Thanks, I think?” Brody actually just looked confused, and after a second she looked to Percy, clearly trying to figure out whether or not LaSalle was teasing her or winding her up. He really liked to tease, but in this case they probably all agreed. It was regularly commented on when they were all picking something to tease the others about. Brody looked like she was asking if he was being nice or not.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know when he’s complimenting someone anymore.” She’d never really known for certain when LaSalle was teasing or complimenting. One way or another though it was always for fun. From the grin on his face she was going to guess that he had been winding Brody up, again.

“Helpful.” Brody smiled sarcastically. It was actually nice to see that side of Brody again, she’d been a little withdrawn since they’d gotten back, and so seeing her being more like herself was really nice to see. It was probably a sign that she was starting to move past everything that had happened.

LaSalle was grinning, and for some unknown reason that was setting her alarms off. Generally it meant that he was making a plan in his mind. At least this time she was going to assume that it was going to be about the case.“Come on City Mouse, we’re gonna go and speak to the wife.”

“Do I have to, can’t you take Merri?” In combination with not really being entirely sure about spending a lot of time alone with LaSalle again already, she also just wasn’t really in the mood. Given the look that both Brody and LaSalle gave her she thought that saying that was probably a good idea. “I’m just not in the mood.”

“I already told Merri what she’s doing. Come on.” He motioned for her to follow him out the door, and instead of thinking for long she just grabbed her badge and gun, deciding not to fight it. Even though she was not really in the mood to go out today. Then again, it was just about time for them to solve the case.

The drive to the wife’s house was quiet, both of them thinking over their work. They didn’t need to talk to know what roles they were going to play when they got to the house, and they didn’t need to plan how to respond to thing, they’d always had that as a natural side-effect of their relationship. 

Everything went as planned, though the wife seemed to be hiding something. Percy couldn’t quite put her finger on it though, and it was clear that LaSalle hadn’t been able to either. That was definitely a problem, because they needed to know what it was she was hiding. It could be important to the case, they needed to have that break, because right now nothing was making sense other than the victim was into something. 

Percy wanted to find out if LaSalle actually did agree with her. She felt like he did, but it was best to check. “She did not seem very convincing.” That was the only way she could think of to phrase it, and it was the easiest way too. The wife hadn’t been convincing, but something was making her lie. 

“Yeah, she’s lying.” LaSalle replied with a frown. She watched his face as he drove and frowned to herself. They were trying to be normal, but nothing was normal. Percy was determined to just push through it, though, and show that she could be professional even when her personal life was going to hell. She was going to focus on work, that was the way to get through all of this.

“I don’t know what it is that she benefits from it though?” It was the question they needed to answer before they could ask any other question  really. Without that answer, they wouldn’t be able to start of any other conversation. LaSalle normally had a good way to think through these situations.

“Other than 100 grand.” He replied, almost too quickly. He hadn’t thought that through at all really, and that didn’t help them at all, not when they actually needed to be answering the question and not just passing it over because they weren’t in the mood to be thinking about it.

“She won’t get that immediately.” She argued back. Given the situation his money would be died up for a year, or more, in probate and suspensions. Then eventually she’d be able to claim his money, if she was innocent and there were no other issues. Percy didn’t think for a moment that she was innocent, but they needed to prove that. “She definitely knew what was going on.”

“I think she’d have to.” LaSalle’s comment made sense in the long run, even if she wasn’t actively hiding it from them, she probably had suspicions that if she shared they would be able to investigate and not implicate her. “I mean we’re not married and you know most major things in my life.” That was true, but LaSalle also wasn’t one who hid much, anymore anyway.

“Yeah but you also don’t tend to hide things.” She had to point it out, because she was fairly sure most of their team would know if LaSalle was into something like that, but they wouldn’t if it was her. She kept things close to the chest still.

“You do, but I still think I’d know something this major.” Somehow, LaSalle always managed to make it seem as though he was reading her mind, and that was strange for her. He always knew what she was thinking, it seemed. She turned to stare at him and then shook his head.

“I don’t hide as much as I used to, especially not from you.” Percy had never been very good at opening up, then she’d come here and they hadn’t let her stay as private as she’d once wanted to be. Now she let them in, LaSalle maybe more than the others, despite her desire for distance from him.

“I think I should be flattered.” His reply was far more matter-of-fact than she would have expected, especially given that she could beat him up if she really felt like it. She wouldn’t though, she was going to save that for when she actually needed it. 

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself LaSalle, we just work together a lot.” That was true, though some of it was still her trying to deflect the fact that she had loosened up most around him, that she had let him get close. They’d seen how badly that could go three weeks earlier, so in a way she was lucky that the people she’d let in were people who were completely trustworthy.

“You work with Brody and King just as much.” Turning and staring at him for a moment she had to actually question if he was being serious or not. Sure, she worked with them both, and on occasion she’d partnered Brody, rarely Pride. They had found two dynamics that worked, and they all just hoped that it wouldn’t change, even if personal relationships did change.

“Not the same and you know it. Work husband and all that.” She did like seeing the grimace that came along whenever she said that. Thinking about it, she thought it was even more amusing given that Meredith Brody was the one who had coined that for them. Especially given the relationship that she and Pride had, which was more like a married couple than her and LaSalle. “You know it does amuse me a little that Merri is the one pushing that.”

“Pot and kettle situation, ain’t it?” He chuckled, and it made her feel better that he’d clearly been having the same thoughts when it came to their friends. She was surprised every day that went by that nobody in their office had actually just given in to the tension that was often felt around the building. 

“Little bit.” She chuckled, and moved a little as she heard the ringtone on her phone going. Unlike when it was of their team, the ringtone was flat and usual. She glared at the unfamiliar number for a few moments then sighed and turned it on, figuring that if it was someone calling her it was likely for a serious reason. “Percy.”

Clearly, the shock at what she was being told showed on her face, as LaSalle looked over at her with concern written all over his face. “What’s wrong?” He asked, and she just shook her head, still listening to the sounds of the voice on the end of the phone. As she ended the call and started thumbing through her phone, LaSalle sounded a little more urgent for information on what her call had been about. “Sonja?”

“Pride’s been in a car accident.” She’d never wanted to say those words, yet here they were. At least it seemed like everything was minor. There had been enough tragedy befall the members of this team, they really didn’t need this either. They needed some protection from the pain and suffering that seemed to easily befall this team, and those in their profession.

“What?” That was the first question, and unsurprisingly she didn’t have all the answers that would be wanted. She wasn’t there, she wasn’t next of kin. In fact the call had merely been a courtesy since they all knew who the teams were.

“They couldn’t give details, other than that it was minor.” Which was the best news, and it clearly made LaSalle feel a little better, then he turned and opened his mouth, though she knew what he was going to ask before he asked. “Why me? Cop at the scene recognised him, only had my number in his cell. Pride’s been taken down to the hospital as a precaution.”

“Call Merri, she’s still at the office so she’ll have an easier time getting there.” They’d left Brody there earlier, and she knew that without orders that Pride couldn’t have given Brody would still be there, and would be closer to the hospitals. In reality, she would also be happier collecting Pride than learning about it all second hand.

“Yeah. She can go pick him up.” She nodded, and after a quick phonecall in which Brody actually managed to sound more worried even than LaSalle. “He’s really alright, Chris.” She reassured him, knowing that LaSalle and Pride had been friends for a very long time now, and that was probably partly why he looked as terrified as he was. Hopefully nobody was downplaying this, but they’d find out later, no doubt when Brody brought him back.


	9. Chapter 9

Brody had never been as terrified as how she felt getting Percy’s call that Pride had been in a car accident. She was never going to pretend that she wasn’t freaked out when someone she loved was in an accident, and sure this thing with Pride was still relatively new, but she already knew she loved him. Running into the ER she pulled her creds out, taking a deep breath so she at least appeared to be in control. When the nurse looked to her she once again tried to keep her voice level. “I’m looking for Dwayne Pride.”

“Who are you?” The nurse snapped a little, so maybe Brody hadn’t been anywhere near as successful as she’d tried to be when she spoke. The truth was that she just couldn’t control how worried she was, thought if it was serious she was sure that Laurel would have called her by now, asking her to sit with her father until she got there. As for who she was, the badge actually said.

“Special Agent Meredith Brody, I’m on Agent Pride’s team.” She said, nodding to her badge. Just wanting her to actually have paid attention to what she was showing. It wasn’t as though she was trying to get in without her ID. She had made sure to carry it this time, though she was the one who forgot it most often.

“I’ll see if I can find one of the people caring for him, take a seat.” The nurse looked a little more sympathetic after she’d seen the badge as proof that Brody wasn’t some sort of journalist or whoever else would truly care about the injury of an NCIS agent. Generally she didn’t have that worry, none of them did. She walked over to the chairs, sliding into one at the edge near where she’d been talking to the nurse, and after a second one little boy was there, and he was just looking at her.

“You’re an agent? Like off the TV?” She had to agree to that, since she hadn’t actually watched TV in years. She did know there were TV shows about agents. Generally, she avoided things like that even when she had had a TV. Right now she didn’t actually own one, she used her computer when she wanted to watch something.

“Yes, I guess.” She smiled, trying to think of another way to put it, she didn’t think that there was another way though. For some reason, kids seemed to think it was cool, probably because it was the topic of so many TV shows these days, though she didn’t think most of them were appropriate for kids. 

“That is so cool, do you have a gun and a badge?” She hadn’t actually brought her gun with her given that she was coming to a hospital then, hopefully, just going back to the office. She did have her badge with her, and her shield on her belt. She didn’t really mind, and would be quite happy to talk to the little guy while she was here.

“Yes, I do.” She nodded, and couldn’t help but smile wider when she saw how excited the little guy was about it all. She doubted he’d ever met an agent before, and hopefully he wouldn’t meet another until he became one. She was going to be optimistic. “Wanna see my badge?” She pulled it out and held it out to him, letting him look at it for a few minutes.

“Cool!” The boy laughed and ran his fingers over the map with her name printed over it. It wasn’t actually that great to look at but it was something she doubted the little boy had seen. “I want to be an agent when I’m grown up.”

“You have to study really hard then and get really good grades.” That was probably a little bit of an overstatement. She had had good grades in the end, but she hadn’t the whole time. She’d graduated with good grades though, and she knew there was a cut off.

The little guy pulled his face at that idea, and she wondered if he wasn’t so much of a fan of school. Maybe she’d be able to help convince him to keep up at school. “You need good grades?” He then blew a raspberry before looking at her again and laughing. “Have you seen a dead body?”

“Yeah. It’s kinda gross though.” Almost her entire job involved dead bodies, but somehow she couldn’t imagine that this kid’s mom would actually be all that happy that he was talking about dead bodies with a random woman in the waiting room.

“I saw a dead squirrel once.” Well, OK that was not the response that she was expecting. She didn’t want to think about how different that was, as from all she could remember animals and humans didn’t look much the same. 

“I don’t think it’s the same thing.” That was the most that she was going to say on that topic right now anyway. She just sat up and started looking around, wondering if maybe someone was going to come looking for her. It didn’t seem like they were already.

“Do you have kids as an agent?” She suddenly realised that he was asking if she was a mom, and for some reason the whole idea of that was ridiculous. She couldn’t actually imagine having kids, she’d spoken about that with LaSalle once. 

“Do I have kids, no I don’t, but my friend does.” She thought about Pride and Laurel, and knew that he wouldn’t ever regret having his daughter. She still didn’t think that she’d ever think it was a good idea, but things could change her mind.

“If you did they’d have the coolest mom in all of school. My mom is just a receptionist.” That sounded a little mean to his mom, given that they all needed receptionists too.

“Deion, come along.” There came a shout, Brody assumed that the boy she’d been sat talking to was Deion, and the woman speaking was the aforementioned receptionist. It seemed like the boy didn’t really want to leave, but after a few seconds he slid off the chair and just stood in front of her.

“Bye miss agent lady, thank you for talking to me.” He held his hand out to her formally, a smile on his lips, and he shook her hand enthusiastically. It was clear he had enjoyed himself, and he was going to have quite the story to tell all his friends when he went back to school in the morning.

“You’re quite welcome, Deion.” She replied, giving him another handshake before smiling as she watched the little boy run off towards his mother. She then just focused on the people coming in smiling and waving to the various cops who were in and out of the ER doing their duty.

After a while a new person came back looking for her, this one looked about 25 and not old enough to be a fully fledged doctor. She was sure that the doctor was a great junior doctor, but she was forever surprised that these people were younger than her. “Special Agent Brody, you’re here for Special Agent Pride?” 

“Yes.” She said standing up and looking to the doctor. She just shook it off, as she really wanted to see Pride and know that he was OK. Nobody had actually told her anything yet, and she was working herself into a silent panic. That was always something that she managed to do.

“Good, he’s been yelling about someone needing to call you.” There was a chuckle, and for some reason Brody was not at all surprised about that. She could imagine Pride shouting about someone needed to call his team, or her, or Laurel. Possibly even Loretta depending on how serious he was at the time. 

All of that did mean that he was alright, that he was conscious and able to shout about her. That actually made her feel better straight away. “He’s OK?” She asked, her arms wrapping themselves around her waist automatically as she was led through the ER toward wherever they’d been treating Pride.

“Lacerations and a nasty bruise on his chest, otherwise he’s fine.” Another nod from the doctor and she was stopped outside the door of a double room, She could only see Pride though, and that made her smile.

“Thank God.” Knowing that he was OK made her much happier, though she was still a little panicked about everything. That was just her reaction when she knew someone had been in an accident. She couldn’t change things in her mind all that easily.

“Special Agent Pride, your visitor is here.” The little doctor said as he led Brody in, and Pride looked up as he spoke. Almost instantly the smile on Pride’s face told her that he’d been waiting for her, or for someone from their team. 

“Merri, you’re here. How did you know?” The look of confusion that crossed his face made her smile a little more. Of course if the hospital had called her, they’d still be waiting for a while.

“One of the cops at the scene recognised you, he called Sonja.” It was a simple explanation, at least, and it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as creepy as it could have been.

“That’s perfect then, I’m so glad you’re the one here.” He was almost babbling, and it was actually a little adorable. She hadn’t actually had to pick him from the hospital before. Generally LaSalle was the one who volunteered for that.

“Stop talking, Dwayne.” She grinned and leant in to kiss him as hard as she could, settling beside him in the bed. They probably wouldn’t be that happy about it, but she felt better sat next to him like that, even if it was a tight fit. Looking up she saw her little friend in the next room and smiled a little before pointing him out to Pride. “You see the little kid in there?”

“Yeah?” He said, then looked at her as if he was totally confused. She realised that it did seem to be a random comment, and not really fitting the kind of thing that she’d normally bring his attention too. That tended to be more potential suspects than cute kids she’d had a conversation with. “What about him?”

“I spoke to him out in the waiting room. He was asking me a million questions.” She smiled a little, still looking at the little boy before she turned back to Pride with a smile. “He overheard me telling them that I was looking for you and who I was.” 

“He looks like a good kid.” Pride smiled, wrapping his arms around her lightly. She then turned a little so she could rest her forehead against the side of his head and closed her eyes before she responded. Just taking a moment to be happy there with him.

“Yeah, I think he just wanted to talk.” She could feel herself slipping back into the worry. The utter terror, really, that she’d felt when hearing from Sonja that he’d been in an accident. She had finally got herself to a point of letting him in, and she’d almost lost him. She tried to shake it off though, and keep talking normally. “He also asked me if I was a mom, that made me chuckle.”

“Merri, tell me.” He said quietly, and she knew instantly that he wasn’t going to give it up. He was worried about her, but he really didn’t need to be. She was just freaking herself out pretty much needlessly.

“What?” Brody decided to still try and play it off, because she really wanted to focus more on him right now than on her fears and worries. She knew that he was alright, that the minor injuries were the only ones, but somehow in her mind she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“You’re trying to hide it, but I can tell. What’s on your mind.” He muttered again, still quietly, trying to keep it between the two of them. The were both very aware of the fact that they were mostly still in public.

She stared at him a moment and took a deep breath. She should have known that she couldn’t have hidden how she was feeling from Pride for very long, but she had hoped that they’d make it back to the office or at least somewhere private before he’d ask, but she decided to answer. “I could have lost you Dwayne. The same way I lost Emily.”

“But you didn’t. I’m still here Meredith.” He pulled her closer to him again, and she ended up just curling up further into his side. She tried to keep herself under control, as she felt a little silly getting upset when he was perfectly OK. “I always want to be here for you.” He told her quietly, and while she wanted to believe that she realised that it wasn’t really possible for anyone to say it. Others had promised her that before, and they had all ended up leaving her.

“You can’t promise that though, nobody can.” She whispered, her head buried in his neck while she tried to think not about the fact that it felt like everyone important in her life ended up leaving her in the end.

“I can do the next best thing.” He spoke almost directly into her ear. Brody had no idea what he meant by that, but somehow he managed to sound confident about whatever it was that he’d gotten into his mind.

“That is?” She pulled back and asked, just wondering what he was going to say, mostly because she really had no idea what he was thinking. How could he possibly promise that he’d be there, or anything else really. Maybe that was just the position she was in right now though. She still wasn’t used to the idea that someone might want to tell her.

“Marry me?” He asked it with such a sincere, serious look on his face she felt like he was proposing. He couldn’t actually be proposing, could he? The longer she paused looking at him the more she realised that he wanted to do it. For some reason he wanted to marry her.

“What?” She laughed a little and looked at him, trying to think of another way to answer him. She wished she could say yes, but she was terrified, and they’d only been together officially for a few days, nobody even knew about them. It would be crazy, wouldn’t it? “That’s… insane.”

"Look, I know you're scared, both of doing this and of not doing this.” He wasn’t wrong, she was absolutely terrified and thought that maybe they were nuts, but she wished that she could say yes, she really did. Right now she didn’t have the reasons to do it. “A commitment doesn't mean everything has to change overnight, it just means we agree to work together for our future."

“Dwayne.” She wasn’t really sure why she was trying to stop him, he was talking her into what she wanted to do, but that was actually terrifying her too. Mostly because she was scared that things would still go wrong, or not work out the way that she wanted them to. Pride made her happy, the happiest she’d been in years, but how could she know if that was going to last.

“I love you, you love me, I know its sudden, and it’s impulsive…” That was all true, it was very sudden, and probably the most impulsive and spontaneous thing that she’d ever done, or considered doing. Pride clearly realised that she was still worried, and he lifted her chin softly. “But it’s also the first thing I’ve felt was right in a long time.”

“We haven’t even told the others about us.” She said quietly, thinking about their team, their family. Not to mention her parents and Pride’s daughter. The people who really needed to know about them, truly, before getting married. At least her parents and Laurel, and probably Loretta and the boys.

“We were going to tell Loretta and Laurel soon, then your parents.” He did know exactly what she was thinking, and he was winning. The longer she went without saying no the more she knew she was going to say yes. “If we applied for a licence tomorrow we could get married on the weekend.” She thought about that then nodded to herself.

Thinking about it for another second she smiled, then looked at him and thought the one thing that was really going to matter right now. “We’d need to see if somewhere could fit us in.” She said, grinning at him as she wondered where would be able to fit them in at such short notice.

“Is that a yes?” Pride asked, meeting her eyes and smiled wider himself. They were crazy, that was all she could think. They were actually crazy and things were going to go so fast, but she did agree with him, this felt right. It felt like she didn’t need to run away.

“It’s a stupid idea, but I’m willing to take the chance with you.” She laughed then shook her head again, thinking about the only other time she’d been planning a wedding, which had gone in a very different situation. She and James had never really gotten past engagement, though they were better as friends, really. “James and I never got past this agreement.”

“Well, we will.” Pride smiled, then leant forward and kissed her hard for a second. She returned it then pulled back and shook her head, trying to remind him that they were in the hospital still. “See what we need to take to apply.” That was a good question, she knew the laws in Michigan, but she had no idea about Louisiana. This was a situation she’d never really expected to be in again.

“Social security numbers, our driver’s licenses, proof of addresses, our parents details, what grade we completed in school. We’ve both got degrees, right?” That seemed like it should be obvious, but she didn’t know for certain. She actually had a masters, but she didn’t talk about it much. The last thing on the list was the one that she’d known they’d need. “And proof of your divorce.”

“I have all that at the office, and yours will be in your personnel file if you don’t have it to hand.” That was all helpful, because other than her credentials and her driving license she didn’t know where anything was. Pride kissed her again softly and smiled when he pulled away. “We can do this, Meredith.”

At that moment there was a little voice again, and that just made Brody smile. “Hey mommy, it’s that nice agent lady.” It seemed like Deion’s mom didn’t have a choice about coming in to see them, and she looked just a little bit uncomfortable, clearly realising that they were coming in during something deeply personal. “Is that your friend you were looking for?”

“Yeah it is.” She grinned and turned to look at Pride again for a second. Realising that it would be fun to introduce him to her biggest fan. That was how she was going to think of this little kid. “This is Deion, Dwayne.”

“Hey buddy.” Pride laughed, giving her a little squeeze which actually made her laugh even more. This was pretty hilarious, all of a sudden, and it was actually great for her to feel like she was moving forward again.

“Yey you found him. Bye.” Deion sounded so happy about it, and he pulled his mom off chattering about what was probably his best trip to the ER, at least it seemed like it was his happiest trip anyway.

“Yeah, I did find you.” She ended up smiling and leant in to cuddle with him again. As soon as they left they had so much that they needed to do. This was going to be fun to explain to everyone when they eventually got around to it. That wasn’t what they were going to do immediately, but they’d have to one day. Brody was ready for this though, she had never thought that she would, but it was something new and she was excited about it.


	10. Chapter 10

Pride knew that there were a lot of things going around Brody’s mind, but now they were almost 24 hours into their waiting period after getting their marriage licence, they desperately needed to tell Loretta and Laurel. They’d booked the time at the courthouse, and come Monday they’d be married, so it was desperate. As soon as the doorbell rang he looked at Brody and saw how annoyed she looked. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all. “Do we have to?”

“That’s why we got them both here.” He said quietly, standing in front of her and lifting her chin up a little to look at her. Pride was suddenly concerned that she didn’t want to do this any longer, and it was definitely what she wanted. “You still want to do this, right?” He had to ask, hoping that she hadn’t changed her mind. At the look she gave him he couldn’t help but smile, knowing that she agreed.

“More than anything in the world.” Brody eventually said, telling him exactly what he’d needed to hear. He then leant down and kissed her softly, taking the opportunity they were presented with before there was a knock on the door. Pride looked to the door and was glad to see they hadn’t opened the curtains yet this morning.

“Then we’ll do it.” He said quietly, kissing her once more before stepping toward the door. He desperately wanted for all of this to work out, and he wanted to be able to tell the people that they cared about. Today though, and for the foreseeable future, they were only telling the two people who would likely be most affected. Though he and Brody hadn’t made plans to move in together, or anything of the type, but with Loretta being the owner of this place, and Laurel being his daughter, they needed to know.

He opened the door when he got there, and looked over his shoulder for a second before he smiled to Laurel. Seeing that Brody had barely even moved from when he’d stepped away. “Hey, baby girl.” He said to his daughter, then put an arm around her shoulder, leading her in while Loretta came in after them and shut the door behind her. 

“Hey, daddy.” Laurel replied cheerfully, then smiled to Brody, who was looking a little less shellshocked for a moment. She was going to give it all away if she didn’t actually start looking a little more in control. “Hey. Merri.” Laurel was clearly not suited to investigative work, as she didn’t notice that Brody wasn’t entirely there. Though Laurel’s words seemed to jerk Brody out of her thoughts.

“Hi, Laurel, Loretta.” She replied, hugging their friend as Loretta came in, though it was somewhat obvious that Loretta had caught that Brody was slightly distracted. Pride really just wanted them all to be sat comfortably when they finally started talking about this. Especially as he knew it would be a lot for Laurel to take on.

“What’s going on?” Loretta asked as they all moved into the middle of the room. He shared a long look with Brody, knowing they were going to be struggling to explain this. Maybe. He knew that people were going to think they were making a bad choice, but he could deal with that. As long as she was with him.

“We’ll tell you both in a minute, everyone sit down.” He waved them over to the chairs and the sofa. Laurel and Loretta sat on the sofa, while Brody slid onto the chair. Pride perched on the edge of the chair and looked down at Brody for a second and smiled, thinking about how this was just the first thing he needed to do to start the rest of his life. Something he thought he wouldn’t have after Linda left. 

“Dad?” He heard, and Laurel pulled his attention away from his future wife to the situation they were in right now. The situation where they needed to actually tell people what they were planning on doing. He looked between the two women on the sofa, and while Laurel remained clueless, he could tell that Loretta had some idea of what they were about to say.

Pride sat thinking about a way to say what was happening, and as he thought of something he opened his mouth, and it just fell out. “We’re getting married.” He blurted, and he felt the glare Brody was giving him more than saw it. He then looked to Laurel and Loretta and saw varying degrees of shock, surprise and utter confusion on their faces. “That didn’t come out as gracefully as I intended.”

“Who’s getting married?” Laurel managed to ask a moment later, she still looked like someone had slapped her in the face. Maybe her question was more about trying to save face than actually needing it spelled out for her. Right now though Pride wasn’t going to put any money on it, so explaining was for the best for all of them. He reached down and took hold of Brody’s hand, feeling better when she entangled her fingers with his.

“Merri and I are getting married, on Sunday.” He smiled down at her, then looked back to the sofa, he could almost feel Brody’s desire to run and hide coming up, so he squeezed her hand, trying to give her a little more confidence and security. He didn’t want her to run away, and that was why they were keeping this private.

“Dwayne, Meredith... that’s a little fast isn’t it?” Loretta asked after a moment of silence. Pride had to try and think of a way to say that he knew this was exactly what he wanted, and that Brody had given him a reason to get over Linda. It seemed like anything he said would be an insult to his ex-wife though.

“We’re not… going to be changing anything immediately, it’s going to take time but…” Brody ended up saying first, and he felt her sitting forward, still keeping a tight hold on his hand. He looked down at her as she continued speaking, and he realised this was the first time he’d heard her speak about this too. “We both want to make this commitment, and we know it’s right for us.”

“It’s not that sudden, we’ve been close for two years. You realised before anyone else did, Loretta.” Pride added on, thinking that what Brody had said had been pretty much perfect, and it avoided the awkward thoughts he’d been having that could have made his daughter uncomfortable. 

“That’s true.” Loretta nodded, clearly thinking back over the last two years. He remembered the first time Loretta had implied she knew how he felt about Brody, and that had been when she told him that everyone experienced temptation. Since that day there had been so much change for the two of them, things that had brought them here. “You two have been close since Merri arrived. This is what you want?” 

“Definitely.” Brody said immediately, and he turned to meet her eyes for a moment, and he couldn’t help but smile even wider when he saw that she was genuinely as happy as he was about this whole situation. He really couldn’t imagine them not doing this now that they were already on the way.

“Well. Let’s go look at dresses we can get you. You need a dress.” Loretta stood up then pulled Brody out of the chair. Pride watched them head over to Brody’s computer in the far corner, he then moved over to the sofa to sit beside his daughter who was surprisingly silent all of a sudden.

It was as though she was carved from stone, and he wondered if this was something she’d be able to understand if he explained it better, he wasn’t entirely certain. “Laurel?” He muttered quietly after another few minutes, seeing her pulling herself out of her thoughts, and it seemed more difficult than maybe he’d given her credit for before.

“I didn’t even know you were really dating, dad?” It wasn’t an accusation, just clearly what Laurel was having to work through. She’d been trying to get him to go out with people for months, ever since her mother had gotten a new boyfriend. “Is this what you meant when you said you were doing fine?” Of course she’d remember that, and now he would have to admit exactly how long he’d had feelings for Brody.

“Merri and I have been complicated for a while, we haven’t been dating but…” They were partners, which generally made two people get remarkably close very quickly, and it had made it even more obvious how they felt when they spent most of their time together. “I fell for her a while ago, and I was working my way through it, until I realised she felt the same but was afraid. Now… neither of us are afraid anymore.”

“But… she’s your agent, isn’t it against some sort of rule?” He sighed a little and looked at the floor for a moment. That was a truth he’d been trying to ignore, but he knew that once it was all over with, there would be nothing that anyone could really do. Pride wanted to get to that point so desperately.

“A couple, that’s why we’re keeping it secret and private for the time being.” That was the only way he could say it, though also why they were keeping it to themselves was Brody’s general personality. She really didn’t want this to be a big thing, and he was happy about that. The only person he’d wanted to tell was Laurel, and now she knew. “Nothing will change though Laurel, not immediately.”

“Do you love her?” Laurel asked quietly, and Pride looked over toward where she and Loretta were laughing about whatever it was the two of them were looking at. He really couldn’t help but smile as he watched them for a second, loving the opportunity to just watch her for a moment.

“More than I can possibly explain.” He said still watching her, not turning back to Laurel until after the last word had settled. Laurel was still giving him a strange look, but it seemed like she was working it all through in her mind. That was better than her closing down, which he had been a little worried about at one point.

“You’re sure about this?” Came the next question, clearly something else that was desperate for her to know, and really Pride could understand that. Neither he nor Merri were really the most impulsive of people, and really they would normally have taken months or years to do this. Yet it still felt right that they were just jumping straight in.

“I didn’t think I would be, but I am.” He had to be honest, Laurel was old enough now that he didn’t need to protect her from the way adults thought, and the way some relationships worked. She’d one day understand, he was sure of that, she’d experience something that just felt right and would know how he felt right now.

“I’m worried that you’re not thinking this through, but…” Laurel sighed then shrugged. Pride knew what she meant, but it really wasn’t a reason for him to change anything, not now anyway. “Mom said she thought you were interested in someone at work. I never really knew who, but I don’t know Merri all that well.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that, as that had been one of Brody’s concerns as well. She didn’t know Laurel well, and that they wouldn’t get along when they started to get to know each other. He was fairly certain that they’d become good friends though. “You can get to know her, I’m sure. She’s like Chris in a lot of ways.” He knew that Laurel and LaSalle got on well, and that would probably be a good sign of her getting on with Brody. “So, I was wondering if you’d stand up there with me on Sunday?”

“Like your best man? You don’t want Chris?” That was a truly sweet question, and while LaSalle was like the son Pride had never had, this was something that they didn’t want the team involved in. Not yet. They were a family, but not everything needed to be about them as a group.

“We’re not telling the team, not for a while, and you’re my best girl… I’d rather it be you up there with me.” If he was honest with himself, even if everyone else was involved, he’d still rather it be Laurel. She was the most important person in his life, with Brody a very close second. It was important that this all work together.

“Of course I will, dad.” Laurel smiled then leant forward and wrapped her arms around him. Clearly still having reservations, but listening to him about what he wanted. “If this is really, truly what you want I’m happy for you.” She pulled back and got a thoughtful look on her face. “Can I tell Orion?”

“Swear him to secrecy.” That was the only caveat, not that Orion would actually be able to give the game away to all that many people. For better or worse, Orion didn’t know anyone in their circle other than Laurel’s mother, and from what Linda had last complained about, he doubted that Orion would be talking to her any time soon.

“When are you gonna tell mom?” That was something that Pride hadn’t actually really thought much about. He knew that he needed to tell his ex-wife, and probably telling her before the wedding would have been more expected. The truth was that Linda would find some way to talk him out of it, so he would wait and tell her when he needed.

“When it’s all over and done with.” That was the beginning. He wanted to wait until Brody was ready for people to know. He was certain it wouldn’t take too long once they’d gone through with it, but until then he would keep it to those who already knew. “When Merri and I are settled.”

“She’s not gonna like it, you know?” That was probably the understatement of the decade, and from the small smile that played on Laurel’s face, Pride wondered if his daughter was somewhat looking forward to that. However happy he was now, he had fought for his marriage, and if he’d had a real choice, he and Linda wouldn’t have split up. She’d wanted to leave though, hadn’t been able to handle his job, so he’d moved on and he was happy about that. 

“Laurel, your mom is the one who left.” He said quietly, knowing that all kids had a dream that their parents were actually happy together. That just hadn’t been the way this had gone. It wasn’t entirely fair on Laurel, he knew that, but he couldn’t help the way it had happened. Now he was making the best out of it.

“I know that, still doesn’t mean she’s gonna like this.” Once again, a rebellious smile was growing on Laurel’s face, and that made Pride even more certain that she was going to enjoy the fallout of this. “I think she always assumed she’d be the one to get remarried first. You’re not just getting remarried but Merri’s what… 15 years younger than mom?”

He shook his head for a moment, only a little concerned about what Laurel was implying there. She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it. “Yes, but that really doesn’t play into my thinking.” Until Laurel had mentioned it he hadn’t even thought about the age difference between him and Brody. 

“No, I know. It’ll play into mom’s though.” That was a fair comment, and he smiled along with Laurel, because really he didn’t care as much as he once would have about what Linda thought. “Look dad, I just want you to be happy. If you’re happy then… I can learn to be.” That was what he’d needed to hear, and he was about to continue the conversation when Laurel was called to be a tie breaker on a dress argument. 

He’d then just sat back for a while, watching Laurel and Brody bonding over their similar tastes in simple and elegant dresses. While Loretta was pressing far more elaborate designs. By the time people were leaving he was ready to just go straight up to bed. To say this was their first whole day off since their leave had ended, he was more tired than after a full day on a case. 

Getting ready for bed Brody seemed to realise that he and Laurel had needed that time to talk while they’d been looking at the dresses. “How did Laurel take it?” She asked softly as they got into bed, and he thought back over the afternoon and evening with his daughter he was surprised exactly how well it had all ended up going.

“Better than I expected, in all honesty.” He had expected much worse, probably something more like the tantrum her mother would have thrown. It was quite nice to see that she didn’t take too much after her mother in that sense. As soon as he was in the bed he pulled Brody into his arms and kissed the top of her head softly. “We told them now, that’s the first step.”

“It is.” She agreed, resting her head on his chest like she did most nights when they’d been here. He wondered for a moment what went through her mind when she trailed off and went quiet. She was getting better at letting him in, but mostly she was still a mystery to him. “Dwayne, you know I’m still so terrified about this?” Obviously whatever her mind had settled on tonight had led to her talking about that, and he couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I know. I’ll show you that we’re doing the right thing.” He kissed the top of her head again, stroking his fingers across her back. There were a lot of things that could go wrong, but he wasn’t about to let something get between the two of them. Not now they had finally gotten here. “I won’t let you fall Merri.”

“I don’t doubt that, but with everything that happened…“ She trailed off and he sighed softly. He knew she’d have been able to hear that with where she was laid, but he didn’t regret it. She blamed herself for so many things that weren’t her fault, and he hated that he couldn’t seem to talk her out of that easily.

“None of that was your fault. Not one thing was because of you. You saved us all more than anything.” He knew that she had saved the entire city a few weeks earlier, and while she didn’t want to admit it, he knew the truth. Pride wasn’t going to let her keep beating and breaking herself for something someone else had done. “You aren’t a failure.”

“I am, and you’ll see that eventually.” She said it almost too quietly for him to hear, but he did hear it, and he shook his head softly and frowned. It hurt a little that she sometimes thought so little of herself when she was the best of any of them.

He couldn’t take it that she thought that all the time. “Meredith.” He scolded softly, deciding that she clearly needed to be reminded who she was talking to. “I know everything,  _ everything _ . You’ve never been a failure, and I promise you I will help you see that too.” He then leant down a little further, kissing her forehead. He would help her through all of this if it was the last thing he did.


	11. Chapter 11

LaSalle had enjoyed the night before, and he was pretty sure that it was obvious that he had. Mostly because he was late in to the office. He’d expected Pride and Brody to be there too, but when he eventually strolled in only Percy was in the bullpen, and she looked mad as all hell. He wondered who had pissed on her cornflakes, but he wasn’t going to ask. Almost as soon as he’d shrugged his jacket off she was snapping at him about the fact he was late. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I went out last night.” He felt like dragging out what had happened. Mostly because he kind of wanted to see how she reacted to the idea that he might not be waiting around forever. The truth was that he probably would, at least until there was something else taking his attention. Trying to misdirect Percy would help for now.

“Oh really?” She didn’t seem angry or upset about the fact he’d been out, though she did appear to be annoyed that he was late. He should probably have come on time, but he hadn’t expected for breakfast to drag as long as it actually had. Tabitha could talk for hours when she started talking about something she loved though, and that tended to include her work.

“We don’t have an urgent case.” They really didn’t. They had a few open cases, but one of them was on the verge of going cold, and the other two were robbery cases that were taking longer to close than they really should have been. It was a Friday, and very little on slow cases would break today.

“You probably should have slept.” Percy said quietly, and for a second LaSalle wondered how crap he looked today if she thought he hadn’t slept. Especially since he had actually slept almost a full night the night before. Then again, they all slept so little he probably looked worse when he slept an appropriate amount.

“Who said I didn’t?” He had to ask, just to see what her response was, and whether or not it was going to be worth getting into an argument about it. He enjoyed arguing with Percy, she was fun to fight with, but still he only liked doing it on things that were actually worth annoying her about.

“Your whole face. You looked like you didn’t even go home.” She laughed a little, and he grimaced a little. Ouch! OK he was going to make a mental note that sleeping more than six hours made him look worse than not sleeping did. He needed to try to remember that for the next time he had the opportunity to sleep a full night.

“Well I did.” LaSalle smiled, a full argument wasn’t worth it, so he’d just gently correct her and leave it at that. Then for the life of him he didn’t know what possessed him to add the rest of his thought. It was true, but he still hadn’t needed to say it, especially not the way that he then actually did say it. “I just wasn’t alone.”

“Oh.” Percy’s whole demeanour changed, and she had a very unhappy look on her face. He instantly felt even worse for what he’d said and the fact that it really hadn’t been necessary. But really, given that this was all on her, why shouldn’t he move on. Not that that was what he had been doing.

“You made your position very clear, you don’t expect me to be alone forever, do you?” He couldn’t help but ask it that way. Once again implying that it was someone important to him, which it was but not in the way he was letting her think.

“Not at all, I just don’t want you going back to what you were like last year.” She covered it brilliantly. Especially as he knew that Pride would beat his ass if he got that bad again. He hope that he never would get like that again, but that was still largely because he was holding out hope that Percy would change her mind.

He wasn’t going to be able to keep this up any longer, he needed to come clean about the fact he wasn’t having some kind of naughty night, other than probably drinking a little more than he should have done. “I was with my sister Tabitha, Sonja. She was in New Orleans for one night.” She would be on her way home by now, and he was back at work.

“That makes more sense.” Percy sighed, and there was clearly a breath of relief. Unfortunately due to how fast Percy had been able to cover herself LaSalle wasn’t sure if she was relieved that he wasn’t sliding back into his old ways of sleeping with anything willing and moving, or if she was glad that he wasn’t moving on from her. He’d figure it out eventually, he hoped. At that moment his phone buzzed, and a message from Pride came through.

“Yeah, anyway we have to go and pick this guy up from the NOPD.” He passed along the message, Pride said he and Brody were out taking more witness statements on one of the robberies, so he assumed that it was just he and Percy on this guy from the NOPD. Reading the associated file Pride had attached he narrowed his eyes.

“The suspect?” Percy asked as she was gathering her gear. That was a fair question, and LaSalle was almost certain that 99.99% of times he would just be giving an affirmative answer and they’d be getting on with their job. This one seemed so much more difficult than their average case though.

“No. The victim. I’m told it’s an ‘interesting’ story.” He looked at the message from the NOPD, who said that their victim would only talk to NCIS, but that he had a great story to tell. It would need to be, given that he’d been missing and presumed dead for almost a month. He and Percy drifted into silence as they got ready and headed out.

“How come I didn’t know you had a sister.” Percy asked as they were both in the car stuck in traffic. He hated travelling at this time of day for this exact reason, and there was no need for them to use their lights, though he would right now if it meant he wouldn’t be stuck in traffic. He’d be a good boy and answer Percy’s questions instead.

“I don’t know.” He really didn’t, the others all knew he had both Tabitha and Cade, though he wasn’t sure they knew Tabitha’s name. She didn’t come around as often as Cade did, but that didn’t stop him talking about her from time to time. “We’re not as close as me and Cade, so I don’t tend to talk about her as much. She still lives in my home town, near momma and Cade.” 

“Maybe one day I can meet her?” Percy muttered quietly, looking out the window as they were waiting for things to start moving again. He wondered if she knew she’d even said that aloud, but he wasn’t going to ask. It wasn’t worth it today. She was seemingly ready to open up, and that was more interesting than her choice of words.

“Yeah, maybe.” It was a nondescript answer, but it was probably the most accurate one too. He then looked over at her for a second and thought about the fact he had no idea at all if she had brothers and sisters. He knew that she’d been close to her friends, but that didn’t really mean anything. He’d had a close group of friends in high school, and he’d still had Cade and Tabitha. “You know, you never said if you had siblings?”

Percy, it seemed, was on the other side of that, and his initial thoughts had been correct. “Only child. Marion was the closest I had to a sister, and you saw how that went.” That was a good point, he’d been there when she’d reconnected with Marion. If that was what it could be called. He wasn’t really sure that it could be. “Marion and Clara.” He remembered she’d mentioned another friend, but Percy had never said her name before. Now he knew, and he’d keep that in his mind.

“Sounds like King, in the few times he spoke about his childhood he had friends who were more like siblings.” Most of their team seemed to have siblings. He was sure Loretta did, and he could only imagine Sebastian did given some of the weird stories that were told by the forensic scientist. Pride, on the other hand, hadn’t.

“Things are just different when it’s just you.” Percy said quietly, and he truthfully couldn’t imagine it. He was the youngest, and so he had always had Cade and Tabitha keeping an eye out on him. He was about to say as much when Percy had continued speaking, and LaSalle ended up wondering where her mind was at. “Until I met Merri I always wondered what you said when a sibling died too, you know one of those weird thoughts in the back of your mind. Are you still a sister if your sister isn’t alive anymore?” 

“That generally depends on the person, I think.” For him, that was a purely academic question, he didn’t know and hopefully never knew. While Cade was missing he’d still had a brother, but that wasn’t anywhere near as final, not really. He knew what he’d think though, and what the only person they knew who was actually going through that said. “But I still would be, and Merri definitely still is.”

“Yeah, we’ve all seen what she’d still do for Emily.” Percy hadn’t been there for the  _ Moultrie _ investigation either, so she hadn’t seen what had originally alerted LaSalle, at least, to Emily’s existence. “Must be nice to have that relationship though. That person that you’d do anything for without asking, and who you know would always have your back even when they were annoying the shit out of you.” That sounded so very familiar, and LaSalle wondered if Percy realised she’d just described their team too.

“Partnerships in our profession are almost as close.” He smiled a little thinking about that. There were no people he’d rather trust, and nobody else he’d rather believe when it came to needing someone on his back. “All of us, really. No matter the case. If it’s personal we’re gonna be right there.” They’d all been through a lot, and the others had been right there when they’d needed them. It was the nicest feeling, really. Knowing that your friends had your back without question.

“You’ve all proven that to me.” Percy said quietly, and as the traffic started to move again LaSalle had to go back to looking at the road, though he was a little grateful that Percy continued speaking. “You just helped me with Marion, and none of you asked too many questions. Just what was needed.” LaSalle knew that Pride had asked a lot more than he or Brody had, but they’d all just wanted to help her out. “Then you were right there when it was all over with.”

“That’s what we’re here for.” He smiled and reached over to squeeze her shoulder gently. He knew that she wasn’t used to being a part of something bigger than herself, but he was sure that she was beginning to realise how much she mattered to the people she was around now. “Sonja, you may not be ready to take it on… but you’re part of a family now. We won’t let you fail.”

“How long does it take people to get used to that?” Percy asked, and he wondered at first if she was kidding, a quick glance to her told him that she really wasn’t kidding, and he suddenly realised that she wasn’t exaggerating exactly how unused to this whole situation Percy actually was. He’d always thought that maybe she was playing it up a little, but looking at her she seemed confused. Then he remembered that people didn’t always fit in straight away.

“Depends on the person. Some assimilate immediately, some are more like Merri.” He considered Brody one of his best friends, and she knew everything that he let people know, but in truth he barely knew anything about her. He didn’t think any of them ever would. Pride already knew a lot more through being their boss, so he guessed that Pride knew what Brody didn’t tell people, and probably never would. “I doubt most of us will ever know most of her secrets.”

Percy smiled again, then LaSalle was more surprised about what slipped out of her mouth than he should have been. “Well, she was an undercover operative before she became a field agent, so probably not.” He’d never known that, how had Percy known that. Clearly the look on his face obviously told her that that was something about his former partner that he’d never known. “We bonded about that once.”

“Damn. You two are too good at that.” He had to laugh, because at least Percy had bonded with someone in her early months here. He knew that she hadn’t wanted to open up at the beginning, and she had been hard to get to know at all, but if she had managed to get Brody to open up about something it was a big deal really.

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” She teased and smirked as they arrived at the NOPD precinct where their missing ‘victim’ was being held. He was looking forward to hearing about this story, and on top of that he’d learnt more interesting facts on the way here. This was definitely not a bad day, and he was rather proud about it all.


	12. Chapter 12

Watching Pride ducking into the bar for what seemed like only a few minutes, it struck Percy suddenly exactly how little time their friends had been spending actually having time with them recently. She didn’t know what was going on with Brody and Pride, and she probably didn’t want to know, but she still had questions. “Do you think Merri and King might join us?” She asked, watching as Pride disappeared back up the stairs again. 

“I doubt it, honestly.” Patton was the first one to reply, shaking his head as he did. Maybe he knew something the rest of them didn’t, or maybe he was just that attuned to their friends that he knew they were busy without anyone saying anything to him. That actually wouldn’t surprise Sonja at all, Patton was more perceptive than they gave him credit for sometimes.

“Those two are acting more married than usual.” LaSalle ended up saying, and Percy found herself just nodding a little. It was something the whole group had spoken about a few times, because Pride and Brody had often been that way. None of them knew when it changed from them just being colleagues to them being the way they were now, but it had. Though sometimes she wondered if they were just reading too much into it. 

“You really think?” Sebastian was the first person to reply, and that once again made Sonja doubt just a little bit. He and Brody had gotten close over the last few months while working on her sister’s case, so maybe if he hadn’t seen anything the rest of them were reading too much into it. Then again, Sebastian also had a pretty big crush on Brody, that somehow Brody hadn’t clicked about either. So they were both a little clueless.

“They’ve been sneaking more, and Merri hasn’t stayed late once this week.” Percy had been keeping track of that only because she’d been trying to work out if Pride ever went anywhere other than the office or his bar. She still hadn’t gotten a real answer to that, as she’d kinda left it alone after he was in his accident the other day.

“Think they’ve fallen out?” LaSalle was clearly trying to work outside the box they’d all gotten into their heads that Brody and Pride were really something more. If she thought about it logically it didn’t make sense, but relationships never did in her experience. It made her think about the fact that LaSalle had almost kissed her a few weeks ago, and she knew that sometimes, a relationship with a co-worker wasn’t worth it. Both Brody and Pride were professionals. Right now it could go either way. 

“Either that or they’ve actually jumped into bed with each other.” She couldn’t help but verbalise that thought again. She just couldn’t. It slid out of her mouth before she could stop it, and in reality Percy wasn’t at all sorry about it. Everyone around the table seemed to fall silent for a moment as they thought through the possible evidence for and against, and Percy was pretty sure that everyone came to the same conclusion she had.

“Nah, King couldn’t keep that secret.” LaSalle ended up saying from where he was sat beside her. That was also a good point, because while Brody was amazing at keeping her personal life private, Pride wasn’t really. He tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, and that had been something that had taken her some time to adjust to when she’d transferred.

“We are all in agreement that King is nuts for her though, right?” Patton asked, speaking for the first time since he’d said that he doubted Brody and Pride would join them tonight. Instantly she and LaSalle were both nodding, while Sebastian shook his head. She was now pretty sure that Sebastian was being willingly dense about what was right in front of him. Not completely surprising really, as he was the type who would bury his head in the sand, again probably how Brody had ended up feeling so close to him. 

“Sebastian doubts, the rest of us agree.” LaSalle smirked, and all four of them drifted into silence. All absorbed in their own thoughts about relationships in their little corner of the universe. Percy wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore, but she still knew that she wasn’t ready to risk losing the friendship she had with LaSalle, even if they both wanted more.

“What should we get for dinner?” Sebastian was the one to break the silence, and in doing so managed to remind them all why they actually had met up this evening. They weren’t really planning on spending the whole night in the bar drinking, though that wasn’t a bad way to spend a Friday night.

Standing up Percy decided that they needed at least one more round before they actually left, and with that they would be ready for an evening out in New Orleans. Sure they had work still to do, but nothing urgent. “You boys decide that, I’m gonna get us another round. Sebastian can pay for my dinner since he owes me.” 

“Why do I owe you?” Sebastian asked, though he gave her the small smile that told her he actually understood that she was teasing him, and that playing along was probably going to make it funnier for them all in the long run. He also probably knew that she would actually pay him back later.

“Because I said so.” She continued teasing, rooting through her bag to try and find her wallet so she wouldn’t have to beg for them to let her pay on her credit card. She only got away with that normally because everyone knew she was one of Pride’s team, and they spent most of their off duty time there.

“Well. That’s fair.” Sebastian smiled good naturedly as she finally pulled her wallet from the depths. She heard the three men start talking about how they didn’t understand how people lost things in purses, and Percy just didn’t want to have to stick her nose into that fight. She had too many other things she was actually having to dedicate her attention to. She headed up to the bar instead of humouring them, and just smiled to Deena, Pride’s newest barmaid and server. 

“Hey Sonja, what can I get you?” Deena smiled, and Percy had to admit it was nice to have someone at the bar who it seemed was more interested in her than the guys. It was refreshing, and the last couple of nights she’d come in, she’d sat and talked with Deena about how ridiculous Pride and LaSalle could be. 

“Four beers. We’re not being fancy tonight.” She motioned over to the table where she’d left the boys, and she didn’t want to turn back to see what they were doing. She had a feeling that she probably wouldn’t actually want to know what it was, or why they were doing it. “It’s just the four of us too.”

“Yeah, Pride mentioned he needed to sort something out so wouldn’t be here much this weekend.” Deena let slip, and Sonja wasn’t entirely certain that she’d meant to. Pride hadn’t said anything to the team about this weekend, so maybe it was something to do with their work. They’d learn in due time, she was sure.  “Well, I’m sure I could make you something interesting.”

“That’s nice of you, sure. Three beers and whatever you’ll make me.” There was definitely a hint of flirting, and Percy wasn’t sure if she was right to respond to it given that in her mind she was saying that she didn’t have time or inclination for a relationship. At the same time she wanted to have more connection than she was currently getting.

Deena, it seemed, had just decided that this was the perfect time to actually put the moves on Percy and, Percy was actually OK with it. “Hey so… I’ve been wondering if you’d maybe like to go get a drink with me. Somewhere else?” There was nowhere in this city that she wouldn’t be known as one of Pride’s agents, but again she didn’t mind that too much either.

“Oh… I…” She stammered slightly, trying to think of a way to say something without letting on that right now she didn’t know what she wanted to do. She honestly wanted to say yes, wanted to try and move on and figure out a way to be happy and loved in a way that wouldn’t jeopardise her career. 

“I didn’t misread it, did I. You are…?” Deena clearly worried that she’d caused offence, and just wanted to make sure that Percy was actually interested in women too. Not that Percy had ever came out and said to her friends, she was pretty sure they all knew that she wasn’t completely straight. So at least she could answer that honestly.

“Yeah, yeah I am… I just didn’t expect it.” She smiled a little and looked at Deena again, feeling suddenly just a little bit lighter. Maybe this was the way that she’d start moving on. While there was a part of her mind that told her that she didn’t really want to move on, she wanted to come to terms with liking LaSalle, another part of her knew that wasn’t going to happen, therefore she should try to be happy.

“Well. Neither did I, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.” Deena looked embarrassed, and that just made Percy feel bad, her own awkwardness was rubbing off on everyone around her it seemed like these days. Reaching out she put her hand on top of Deena’s to try and stop the other woman from moving off along the bar.

“I’m flattered.” She said honestly once she’d gotten the attention back. It wasn’t going to cost her anything to go on one date, and it could lead to something different.Whatever it did it could lead to her possibly moving on from Christopher LaSalle, which would make work easier for them both. “Yeah, let’s go get a drink together. I’d like that.”

“You mean it?” Deena seemed more shocked than even Percy would have thought, which meant that she probably wasn’t used to getting a positive response. That was a little sad to think about, but Percy knew it often went that way.

“Yeah, I mean it.” She laughed a little and shook her head. All she could think was that Deena wasn’t actually going to like her all that much outside of this place where they were always surrounded with other people, but it was worth trying. “I’m not sure you’ll like me all that much when we’re not in this place, but I’d like to give it a try.”

“Great. How about tomorrow night?” Deena suggested, finally pouring out the drink she’d spent the whole time they’d been talking making. Percy had to admit that she was a little curious about what Deena had decided to make her as well. There was no urgent cases going on at the moment, and that meant that Percy would have the following night free for certain.

“That’d be great.” Percy smiled, knowing that without an urgent case they were likely able to make plans. She’d have to remember to get her number later in case that changed, though with working here she’d probably know if something happened because it would affect Pride too.

Deena then held the glass and it’s bright sky blue contents out to her with a smile. “Here, this is for you. I’ll bring your beers over and put this on your tab.” Percy had actually forgotten that they had a tab, so the fighting for her wallet hadn’t even been needed.

“Thanks, Deena.” Percy smiled and went to walk away, before a gentle hand on her arm prevented her from moving away. 

“You even remembered my name, I’m amazed.” That was more teasing than anything, and Percy felt her face splitting into a far wider grin than she’d had before even though she’d been enjoying all of this.

“Hey, I pay attention.” She replied, there was nothing else that she could really say. She hadn’t had a good reason for why she’d remembered the name more than she did with most other people it had just lodged in there.

“Yes you do.” Deena smirked as Percy started walking back to the table, sliding into her seat and taking a sip of her drink, not even trying to talk to the others. She was sure they wouldn’t leave her alone for long, especially not when Deena did bring their drinks over, causing Percy to just blush again.

“You’re bright red Sonja.” LaSalle was of course the one to comment on it. It couldn’t have been one of the others, or even someone passing. It was the worst possible way to have to try and say anything. She didn’t know how to say this in a way that wouldn’t sound bad.

“Oh god. Don’t even ask me.” She just shook her head and waved a hand in front of her face. If they didn’t say the actual words then she wouldn’t have to admit it, and she wouldn’t have to see LaSalle’s face at the news. She knew her friends better than that though, and it wasn’t going to go away that easily.

“We have to ask, what happened?” Sebastian jumped on faster than she would have normally expected. Given that they’d all been teasing him about his crush recently she was pretty sure that he was just trying to get the attention off of him.

“I’m pretty sure I have a date tomorrow night.” She admitted, just avoiding LaSalle’s eyes as best she could, only looking at Patton and Sebastian, glad that they were both opposite her at the table. She knew he’d be upset about it, but she wasn’t going to hang around forever. He’d said that.

“Tomorrow?” Sebastian asked, giving her a look that said that he thought she might be jumping in too fast, but really in their job they couldn’t afford to wait. She didn’t know what her schedule would be like in a couple of weeks, or anything more than a few days away. 

“I know. But in this profession you take your dates where you can.” She wasn’t going to make plans for days down the line only to almost certainly have to cancel them. That was just rude, and would end a relationship before it had a chance.

“Amen sister.” Patton smiled and held his glass up to hers then turned to Sebastian to start arguing about whatever they’d been discussing before. Percy just turned to LaSalle and looked at his face for just a moment. She could see the hurt and confusion in his face, starting immediately to think of ways to tell him they were OK.

Even though he was her friend, and she knew they had feelings for each other, this was definitely for the best. For her at least if not or the both of them. “You said it yourself Chris. We can’t be alone forever.” She just said it quietly, trying to make sure that Patton and Sebastian weren’t distracted from their fight.

“Yeah.” Was the only response she got. That didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence, and Percy felt terrible for this, but only that he was feeling this way. She wasn’t going to be guilty for something that could make her happy.

“Let’s try and enjoy the rest of tonight, yeah?” It wasn’t really a question, but she thought it was best to be phrased that way, as it would be more accessible for both of them to face it that way. “We may have a weekend with no urgent case.”

“Don’t jinx it.” Patton said, clearly tuning in to their conversation at the exact right moment to drag their attention away from something more personal than either of them was really comfortable with right now, especially while they were in public. This wasn’t something they’d ever need to share with the public. Now she was just ready for dinner, and to look forward to her date.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am such trash for this pairing.

Brody had been fighting with herself ever since she’d woken up, but given it was the middle of the day on Saturday and the wedding was in 24 hours, she was running out of time. Pride was just sat behind her with his arms wrapped around her, kissing her neck between his words while he was trying to convince her to actually call her parents. “You have to call her if you want them here.” He pointed out again, and it actually made it a little more difficult to focus while he was sat the way he was.

“I know, I know. I’m just nervous.” She’d probably remain nervous until she’d actually done it, and while she was nervous, both about them coming and what they’d say, she really did want them there. Emily couldn’t be there, and she hadn’t told James yet. So her parents were the only ones who she wanted to be there.

“I’ll be right here.” He whispered, kissing her neck again as she scrolled through the phone to get to her mother’s contact. Hitting the button to call her she slid it to loudspeaker as she turned her head to kiss Pride deeply as they waited. It was certainly one way for her to not focus on the situation. They were still sat kissing when there was an answer, and of course, there was no platitudes or small talk. 

“ _ Meredith? Is everything alright? _ ” There was a hint of concern in her voice, and Brody just smiled to Pride for a minute. Sure, the last time she called she was saying that she’d been in an incident and was going to Florida to clear her head. They’d only really text in the last 6 weeks. So this was going to go down a lot better, she hoped.

“Why do you assume something is wrong every time I call?” It was the only question she could think about asking, and as Pride pulled her further into his arms and she started smiling even more. This really was perfect, and now she was on the phone she was even less nervous about what she was going to say to her parents.

“ _ Because we aren’t a family that calls very often. _ ” Olivia had a point there. Though for almost 8 years they hadn’t spoken at all very often. In fact, for 5 of those years they hadn’t spoken at all. Then she’d decided to try speaking to them again, and things had been awkward, then Olivia had come to the city, and they were much closer now than they had been since she was a teenager. 

“Well, I can’t disagree.” She nodded softly then decided that it was just time to get on with it. She wanted to tell them both at the same time though, and not have to live through the game of Chinese Whispers that would start if she didn’t tell them together. It would be awkward. “Mom I have some news, is daddy there?”

“ _ I’ll get him. Paul! _ ” Olivia yelled loudly then they just heard shuffling. Within a few seconds there was the unmistakeable sound of her parents starting yet another argument. They were going to be coming to stay with her, and that would mean that these arguments would me more normal for her again. She didn’t miss this part of living at home, not at all.

“Sounds like fun.” Pride said sarcastically, and Brody realised all of a sudden that he’d never met her father. Paul Brody was not the kind of man anyone would have expected to be married to her mother, yet they’d made it work for more than 40 years now. It was interesting to see their dynamic now she was an adult.

“You haven’t even seen them together yet.” She commented, laughing a little about the fact that Pride would get to see that, and would no doubt find it absolutely hilarious. She didn’t know much about Pride’s parents really, other than his father had been in prison and he rarely spoke about his mother. That was something she’d make a mental note to ask about eventually.

Pride clearly didn’t understand exactly how bad her parents could be, as he looked a lot more confused than she would have expected given what she’d said. “That good, huh?” He ended up asking, as the argument on the other end of the phone was clearly still going on and on. 

“Oh yeah.” She just nodded then leant forward to kiss him once more. The shuffling on the phone happened again and Brody recognised the sound of the phone being switched to loudspeaker. Her parents were still clearly bickering, but at least it sounded like they were about to stop.

“ _ Merri, you doing good? _ ” Her father asked, and Brody had to pull away from Pride a little and smiled at him softly. There was concern in her father’s voice too, and she wondered if most of their bickering had actually been about them suddenly being concerned about her. Maybe she should have said it wasn’t a bad reason she was calling, but she couldn’t change what she’d already said.

“I have some big news, and you two need to come to New Orleans tonight, or tomorrow morning.” She’d just thought to herself about needing to tell them more and she’d given them that. Given her position and her job, people would have expected her to be better at giving news to her parents, but there was no evidence.

“ _ What’s going on? _ ” Olivia was the one to press on, as if that was a surprise to anybody. Brody would always have bet that her mother would be the one trying to get her to hurry along with any conversation. That was the way it always went in their family. She had to pause a moment and try to work out how best to say what was happening.

“I’m getting married tomorrow afternoon.” OK, not the most elegant way to say anything, but it had come out and now they knew. There was just silence though, and Brody wondered if they’d lost the call for a second. She didn’t remember a time when both her parents were silent before, but clearly this had hit them oddly.

“ _ Wait, what? Is this a joke? _ ” Olivia clearly got her thoughts back first. Brody couldn’t really blame her for being surprised and a little skeptical. This was one of the least ‘her’ things she’d ever even thought of. That wasn’t stopping her from thinking this was perfect, and absolutely what she wanted to do.

“You heard, it’s no joke.” She smiled a little, lifting her eyes from the phone to meet Pride’s again. He looked like he was enjoying watching this conversation, and she wondered for a moment why he would enjoy this. Then again, her mother was amusing when you didn’t have to deal with her every day. 

“ _ Have you and James gotten back together? _ ” Paul asked the next question, and Brody felt her eyes narrowing a little at that idea. She loved James, always would, but he was her best friend and nothing more now. They had agreed to let that sleeping dog lie and move on. Last she heard he was dating someone he worked with too.

“No, mom. I love James but not like that, not anymore.” She laughed a little to herself and leant back against Pride’s chest again. Somehow, this wasn’t going the way she’d expected, and nearly all of that was her own fault. Eventually, she would learn how to approach her personal life the way she did her professional one, and would be able to give all the information in a direct manner. Not today though.

“ _ Do we know who it is? _ ” Paul asked, and Brody realised he was thinking that it might be someone else from her past. Most of the guys in her past were in her past for a very good idea, and she was certain that if she was marrying any of them her team would have a lot to say about it, and that would be before her parents got the chance to talk her out of it.

“You met him, Mom. It’s King.” She smiled as she said that, feeling him kissing her shoulder as she did. Resting her head against his she just waited for Olivia to put two and two together. It would amuse her darkly if she could see the expression while her mother worked through the team before realising who she was talking about.

“ _ You’re marrying your boss? _ ” There it was, and the vaguely confused tone was one that Brody hadn’t heard nearly enough in her life. Most of the time she couldn’t surprise her mother, but she’d managed with this. That might not necessarily be a good thing, but it was certainly something.

“I am. I’ll tell you more when you get here. Text me with your flight details, we’ll pick you up.” She really wasn’t in the mood for the breakdown her mother would have at that, so getting off the phone and allowing her father to deal with it suited her better. Sure enough a few seconds later the call was ended, and she just sighed and waited for the details to come through.

Eight hours later they were waiting in the arrivals lounge for her parents, and she was glad that this time she wasn’t alone. Add on that she couldn’t be treated as Olivia’s personal assistant while her father was around. Pride had spent the time cooking, while Brody had actually cleaned her house right through. Since unpacking all her things it was more obvious when she hadn’t cleaned up for a little while. As they waited she was suddenly regretting her decision. “This was a bad idea, I should have just invited them after it was all done.”

“Merri.” Pride said simply, not wanting her to start panicking, she was sure. He was right to try and stop her, but she was going to panic regardless of what happened right now. Not really because it was actually a bad idea, but because she was worried about almost everything in the lead up to this. 

“Yeah?” She asked, and one look to him told her that she’d been correct. At least she could tell him for certain that he wasn’t right in thinking she was already panicking. She was on the verge, but it hadn’t dropped quite that far. “I’m not panicking yet.” It was best she say it aloud, though there was a chance that she was protesting too much.

“It’ll be great, and you wanted them here. I agree with you about that.” He smiled and kissed her temple holding her against his side for a moment. They were still trying not to be as obvious out in public, but when it was all over with there would be little that anyone could do. “Loretta, the boys, Laurel and your parents.”

“This is a terrible idea.” She shook her head and laughed a little. At least she knew that her mother got on with most of her team, just on the off chance that they ran into them. This was all becoming more complicated than she’d wanted to think about, but it was worth it. “You’re lucky I love you.” She decided to tease, thinking that it would lighten things up.

“I know I am.” He just replied, following her over to the arrivals board again. She just wanted to try and figure out where her parents actually would be likely to come in at, though if she learnt anything last time, her mother would surprise her even if she knew.

As if on command she heard the familiar voice calling out to her. “Meredith.” The voice came from behind them, and she turned slowly, feeling Pride squeezing her hand gently in support. She was actually a little excited to see them both, but it had been a while since she’d actually been there with them both at once.

“Hi mom, daddy.” She hugged them in turn, staying held against her father for a moment before they all pulled back and Brody went about the last of the introductions that was needed. “This is King, dad.” She smiled as the two men shook hands, then Olivia turned her attention to Pride as they all headed toward the exit. Brody herself fell into step with her father, purposefully not listening to whatever Pride and Olivia had started to talk about.

“You’re getting married baby?” Paul said after a few seconds of moving, clearly trying to wrap his head around it. Brody couldn’t say that it was a bad thing that they were confused, because this had all happened so fast. She hadn’t even told them that she’d been in a relationship again, so it was probably a bigger shock than they were letting on.

“Yeah. It’s… been a bit of a whirlwind.” She laughed, trying to keep the tone light. She didn’t want to have to try and justify anything, but she was almost certain that that was how this was going to end up going. It was going to need to happen, otherwise they’d probably try to talk her out of it again.

“He gets on with your mom, so that’s a plus.” Paul motioned ahead, then he started laughing too. That was a good thing in her mind. At least he was keeping an open mind about the man she’d chosen to marry. She knew that her parents had both adored James, so the fact that they were being so open about Pride made her even happier.

“You can talk to him at the house.” She reassured him, absolutely certain that Paul was going to have some stern words for his soon-to-be son-in-law. It was a conversation he’d had twice before, so Brody knew what he was going to say. “He’s not as monomaniacal as mom and I are about work. He’s a musician, and owns a bar.”

“Sounds like my kind of guy. Between your sister, your mother, you, Daniel and James… it’s refreshing to know that you are interested in someone who isn’t totally obsessed with work.” That was actually a good point. They had all tended to be a little obsessed with their work. It had made dinner more than interesting for several years. “Mom said he was helpful when you all worked together last year.”

“He’s always helpful. He was amazing for Emily’s case.” He was actually pretty amazing through every case, but right now that was the one that stuck out in her mind, and it was also the one that mattered the most to her family. Both her parents had apologised for not taking her more seriously though, and that had been a vindication. She looked at Pride’s back as he continued talking to Olivia and just smiled a little. “Even though he thought I was in too deep he didn’t stop me investigating.”

“I still can’t really believe it was Robert.” Paul then wrapped his arm around his daughter and Brody just leant in to cuddle up with him a little more. “I’m just glad that you’re happy, Merri.”

“I really am, dad. It’s all been… fast.” That was certainly one way to describe it. At least this part. In the long run it actually hadn’t been all that fast. “We have been close for two years though, and neither of us could truly argue against it. We could say we wanted to wait, but I don’t think that was true either.”

“If he’s as happy about this as you are then it can’t be wrong.” He gave her a squeeze and laughed a little, stopping near the luggage carousels and waiting for their bags to come around, even though they’d probably only be here a couple of days. When they’d stopped again he said the five words that she didn’t hear often, but they always made her happy. “I’m proud of you Meredith.” They were the words she was trying to live up to now, and if she could make good decisions that made her happy then it was all for the better. Whether anyone felt that way in 24 hours she wouldn’t know, but one thing was certain, she was happy it was all going ahead.


	14. Chapter 14

Today was the big day, he was going to marry the women he loved and he couldn't be happier about that. He and Paul had agreed to come to city hall early, wanting to make sure that things were set up perfectly for them. There weren’t many people in attendance, and that was the way they wanted it. Paul had been mostly quiet, and Pride couldn’t really blame him for that. He’d probably be quiet on Laurel’s wedding day, that was looking sooner than he’d like, though he knew Orion was coming along with her. Eventually as they were waiting Paul just nudged him and smiled. “She’s a handful, are you ready?”

“Honestly, I can’t wait.” He knew exactly how stubborn Brody could be, and he knew that she was not the easiest person to get along with, to live with or support, but he was looking forward to fighting through all of this with her. She would be worth it, and no matter what happened, she’d be less work than Linda. “She came into my life two years ago and honestly I don’t know what I’d do without her now.” He’d tried to imagine that, and he just couldn’t

“You saw her through Emmie’s case, and Livvy likes you. Livvy doesn’t like anyone really.” Paul laughed, clearly thinking about his own wife. Brody was more like her mother than she would ever admit, and the fact that Paul and Olivia had managed to be together for at least 40 years gave him a lot of hope that they could make it last. “She liked Daniel, and James… but never really anyone else the girls dated. I was always the one who made friends with their boyfriends.” 

“That sounds familiar.” A voice from the doorway announced the arrival of Laurel, and no doubt soon the wedding party. They were going to come five minutes before Danny drove the rest, though the appearance of CJ said that the youngest member of their family had gotten bored with being around the bridal party. 

“Baby girl.” He got up and hugged Laurel and smiled, kissing her cheek then shook Orion’s hand before introducing around to Paul. They were all going to get to know each other well, and for a moment he wished the rest of their team was there, but he knew that this was the way it needed to be until they’d worked out their professional status. “This is Merri’s dad, Paul. This is my daughter, Laurel and her boyfriend Orion, oh and CJ, Loretta’s son.”

“Nice to meet you Paul.” Laurel smiled, clearly deciding she needed to take the lead, especially as CJ was playing shy, though he really wasn’t all that shy once he was used to people being around. Pride was watching the group around and smiled as he was asked if they were the party, Laurel nodded and said that Merri was waiting in the car, Olivia was apparently being superstitious and wanted them to be ready to go before Pride saw her. “You as surprised about this as I was?” Laurel said as soon as CJ and Orion guided the justice out to speak to Merri briefly.

“You could say that.” Paul laughed, and Pride just stood there watching the two of them, they were soon to all be one family, and until this moment they’d never even met. That was going to be interesting, but in a way at least Laurel would have grandparents who weren’t felons on his side. “You know Merri too?”

“Since she started working with dad, yeah.” Laurel stopped and looked at her phone with a smile and shook her head at whatever the message was. “Hang on, it’s Danny. That means they are probably on their way, we best go in, see later.” Laurel then took hold of his arm and pulled him into the ceremony area and smiled at him. “You’re getting married dad. Good luck.”

He was beginning to feel nervous, and he just stood facing the wall, as he knew was traditional, not looking around at all before they were all ready. He heard the music start, and felt Laurel turn. She then leant in and smiled whispering to him as she did.  “Wait til you see her, Dad.” That tested his reserve, because he desperately wanted to see what Merri and Loretta had dressed her in.

“I’m trying to.” Pride was going to hold on as long as he could. She would be happy that he managed to stay in it until the end. He was certain that she’d look amazing, because she didn’t need to dress up to look perfect to him. He heard as they arrived beside him then started to turn.

“Good luck, sweetheart.” Paul smiled and kissed his daughter, then turned to shake Pride’s hand. Everyone seemed to realise they needed to give the couple a moment to just adjust to the fact that they were actually at this point, stood together. He was so happy about this, and as he looked her up and down he just smiled wider.

“God you look... Wow.” The dress was beautiful, it was satin, floor length and gorgeous, with ruffles on the bodice. It was perfect for Brody, simple, elegant and very, very plain. It let her beauty shine through, all Pride could see was the amazing and beautiful woman who had agreed to do this ludicrous thing with him. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.” 

“Loretta helped me pick it.” Brody blushed, and he finally got to take her hands, standing straight and smiling as he listened to everything that the justice said. It was far shorter than the church service he and Linda had had. Before long they were ready to exchange rings, and he’d elected to speak first. It was a chance for him to say everything he’d thought about her and how much she had changed his life. 

“Meredith, when you came to New Orleans you turned our lives upside down, even though you weren’t meaning to, and I couldn’t imagine it being any different now.” He smiled as she looked up to meet his eyes, and she saw the same emotions being echoed back at him. “Over the last two years you’ve been my conscience and my restraint, you’ve brought me back in line better than anyone ever could.” There was a chuckle from the other side of Brody, and that was when he remembered one of the first examples of how different their relationship already was then, and that was easily 18-months earlier. “Remember that day, when we were hunting Baitfish and you brought me that sandwich. Loretta sent you because you would make me focus, you wouldn’t let me stay hidden away.” She hadn’t either, and she’d been right there with him, travelling through to the prison. She hadn’t left him alone. “I can’t pinpoint when I fell in love with you, but I know it happened, long before I let you know. You have shown more faith than I knew you could in agreeing to this, and I’m so proud of who you are. I promise to keep helping you build up, and together we can make it all work.”

Pausing and looking to the justice momentarily he took the ring that Laurel held out to him and smiled looking at Brody again. He could see that she’d never really thought about how long he’d known all this about her, but he hoped it convinced her that she was doing the right thing here. “Dwayne, do you take Meredith to be your lawful wedded wife?”

“I do.” He smiled, sliding the ring onto Brody’s finger and smiled softly, looking down at the ring he wanted to just start celebrating now, but he knew that Brody still needed to do her bit. “I always do.” 

“Meredith?” The justice prompted gently, and Pride watched as Brody tried to gather her thoughts to be able to speak. He hoped that she’d be able to work something out, but he was absolutely certain that she would because she was always the one who came around first on an assignment.

Sure enough after a moment she smiled up at him. “Wow. Well, this isn’t fair because you practiced. I was thinking earlier about how my life has changed so much in the years since I was assigned here, and what stands out most to me is that I am a better person now than I was two years ago. That was all down to you.” He accepted that she believed that, though he didn’t think she’d changed all that much. “Two years ago I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere, and that I didn’t deserve to feel like I belonged. The  _ Moultrie _ hung over me, and it made me doubt that I could do anything well. But I kept trying.” He remembered how earnest she’d been. He actually remembered the first conversation they’d had about the  _ Moultrie _ . Remembered her words. That had been what convinced him that she was worth his time. “You showed faith in me through everything, you let me explore myself, and even when you knew I was doing the wrong thing you stepped aside. Sometimes I wish you hadn’t in hindsight, but I’m glad you did.” He laughed at that, and was glad when her chuckle joined his. It seemed like what she was saying was less relatable to other people, but that was the joy of this. It meant so much to him. “You support me through life, and you told me that this doesn’t have to change anything, but it changes everything. That scared me, but standing here I know that this is what we both want, and I’ve never been so sure about anything. You and me, us.” 

“Meredith, do you take Dwayne to be your lawful wedded husband.” The justice seemed to realise that that was where Brody was going to end it, and Pride was even more proud of her. She wasn’t the type to put into words how she felt, but she’d managed to say as much as he did, and he knew without doubt that she loved him.

“I absolutely do.” She smiled widely, sliding the ring onto his finger, then tracing a finger over it. It was a far chunkier, more substantial ring than the ones he and Linda had exchanged. It was also silver, Brody’s choice. She didn’t believe in gold bands, and he had had to talk her into having rings at all. 

“Then I see no reason not to pronounce you man and wife. Go on, give her a kiss.” the justice advised, and Pride didn’t need to be told twice. Pulling her into his arms he kissed her as hard as he could, putting as much love and happiness into it as he could. They were pulled away to sign the register and pose for a couple of pictures for people to save for when everyone knew. 

“We did it.” He muttered as soon as people gave them a few minutes to just talk to one another and laugh a little about it all. It was exactly what he imagined today would be like, and he could see Olivia largely talking and being comforted by Loretta. While this was a happy occasion, Pride knew that Brody and no doubt her parents were wishing that Emily was there with them. 

“Yes we did.” She replied, leaning up to kiss him again and laughed, they were given a few minutes to take more pictures and all just sit and take a few minutes. He didn’t want to stop, and he just wanted to go back to Brody’s, or theirs now maybe. They hadn’t actually discussed that. All he knew was he wanted to celebrate with everyone, then take his new wife to bed.

“Dad, you have a call, it’s Chris.” Laurel called from a corner of the room, and Pride just shared a look with Brody. They both knew the reason that LaSalle would be calling them on a Sunday, and it was never for a good reason. He watched as Brody’s face fell a little, and that was the last thing he wanted to see today. This was their day.

“Oh please don’t be a case, not now.” She mumbled as he took the phone, sitting with her cuddled into his opposite side. He really hoped that this was something that could be handled by the team on their own, but then he realised that half the team was here, and he couldn’t expect Percy and LaSalle to do it alone.

So he lifted the phone to his ear, stroking Brody’s arm with his other hand as he started to speak to LaSalle. “What’s up, Chris?” He asked, hoping that he sounded like this was merely a small inconvenience. Otherwise it would be a giveaway that this was a lot more than just an average Sunday.

“ _ Where are you? _ ” There was no small talk, nothing else. That told Pride that this was something really important, and that it was definitely going to interfere with their plans for the rest of the day. He glanced regretfully to his side but couldn’t help but smile a little as he saw the ring on her finger again.

“At a wedding, why?” He wasn’t going into details right now. If it was that much of a rush LaSalle wasn’t going to push into it until they all had some time off and he could think more about it, though he was absolutely certain that he and Percy would already be working it out.

“ _ We’ve got a case, do you have Merri? _ ” That was a good question, and lying about it was not going to work as they’d turn up together anyway. He was trying to think about something that would be an acceptable excuse, but there just wasn’t anything to say. 

“Yeah, we’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” He said, knowing that Chris would text them all the details if they asked, and honestly, he was excited to be getting away from everyone else for a little while, even if it was going out on a case. That was not how he had been expecting the end of the day.

“Half an hour.” Merri then ended up contradicting him, and looking down her dress again he realised that she needed the time to get changed. It would take her considerably more time to change than it would her.

“Make that half an hour. Text us the details. We both need to change.” Since he had already said that they were at a wedding, they really didn’t need to say that they were the bride and groom. He was pretty sure that showing up at the crime scene in a suit was not a good thing.

“ _ Alright, Sonja and I will get the ball rolling. _ ” LaSalle was really very good at doing all of that, and Pride was certain that they would have most of it done by the time that he and Brody would arrive. He hoped that this wouldn’t end up being too much, and they could maybe make it to the end of the party.

“Great.” He nodded then ended the call and turned to kiss his new wife for a moment. It was the start of the next stage of their lives, and it seemed fitting for the two of them that on their wedding day they had to go in to work. It was very them, and he felt like it was a good sign about them working that she was as ready to go to work and get this going.

“Laurel can you drive my parents please?” Brody asked as they stood up, of course they’d need to get home, and he hoped that it would actually give Laurel time to bond with Brody’s parents. They were all in the same family now, and it would be important that they bonded.

“Sure, it’ll be nice to get to know my step-grandparents.” Laurel proved that, once again, she and her father had a lot in common. She would of course be thinking the same thing as him. He couldn’t be prouder of her right now. As he watched everyone else leaving he felt Brody running her hand up his back.

“That’s going to take some getting used to.” She commented after a few seconds and smiled wider. “I’m so glad that I brought a bag assuming this would happen, and a black garment bag for the dress.” She’d clearly been thinking, probably more than he had been. He’d just assumed that they’d actually have the weekend off, that had probably been too much to have hoped for..

“You look amazing, Merri. Really. We’ll renew our vows one day, and you can wear that dress again for photos.” He leant in and kissed her a little more. He knew that they would one day move on past where they were right then, but for the moment he was happy they’d gotten here at all.

“In a year, we’ll do a big ceremony.” She smiled, and that made him realise that she was planning the future too. That made him happier. 

“I love you.” He smiled and leant in to kiss her hard before going to the dressing room to get ready for work. They had already agreed that it was going to be an acquaintance they both shared who didn’t know the rest of their team if anyone asked whose wedding they were at, but he wished for a moment that he could say honestly that he’d married a woman he adored. She was his wife now, and he almost couldn’t believe it.


	15. Chapter 15

LaSalle was still a little amused at the way Brody and King had replied to him over the phone. Maybe he now had an inroad Into the very persistent rumours about their relationship, because that had not been a non-relationship way that they'd spoken to each other. The fact they were together on their day off, that said everything to him. Of course, most of the team figured that it was just a matter of time before they moved on to each other. "Merri and King are coming together." He muttered, looking over at Percy who was sat in the car beside him, though he knew she probably wouldn't be as interested as LaSalle was.

"Well, like that's a surprise." She replied, and he couldn't blame her entirely. It had been weeks now since this had all began and they were all beginning to get fed up of the fact that they didn't actually seem to be moving forward. The truth was that he hoped this was maybe a sign that they had all started to move on. Brody deserved something good, and that's what Pride would be for her. That was what he wanted to bring Percy's attention to.

"They are together, at a wedding, on a Sunday… and Laurel answered the phone." That was really the more surprising thing for him, because he didn't know something that would have the three of them in the same place on a Sunday. Sure, Pride and Brody would have crossover but Laurel was the difference, and he was pretty sure he'd heard Orion in the background too.

"What are you getting at Chris?" Percy turned to him, and it was clear that she thought that he was thinking too much into this. If he stopped trying to imagine the best thing he thought of for his friends, he would agree that he was reading too much into it. The truth was that he really just wanted his friends to be happy.

"Who do they know that we don't?" That was a stupid question, objectively he knew that was a stupid question but he just couldn't help it slide out of his mouth. If he hadn't been driving he would have dropped his head to his hands, instead he just groaned then continued speaking. "Do you know anyone who is getting married today?"

"They have their own friends, of course there is gonna be some crossover that we don't have." They had both been far more involved in the internal politics of NCIS for the last decade more than he had been. He'd generally left Pride to it, and he assumed that with Brody's habit of moving around the country, she knew almost everyone.

"Maybe but, on a Sunday?" That was his bigger question, because Sunday was normally their rest day, somehow. They worked a non-traditional job and they still tended to get Sunday off. Maybe that was more out of good luck than good management. "I've only ever known Merri to be hungover on a Sunday." Mostly because he'd gotten her drunk, he would admit to that.

"Now I'm just interested in how the hell you have paid that much attention?" Percy seemed genuinely impressed that he knew that normally Brody was just hungover. He was also normally hungover, but nobody had been interested in a night out the night before, so he hadn't had any reason to drink. He had had reason to finish a month's worth of paperwork though.

"I pay attention City Mouse." He grinned. Trailing off for a while he double checked the satnav that was directing them to the crime scene. As he thought about being observant he remembered that Percy would have had her date by now, and the truth was wanted that to have been a disaster. He'd try not to let Percy know that, but he had. "Like, how did your date with Miss Deena the bartender go?"

Percy seemed to be taken aback by the fact that he had decided to ask her about it. He really had tried to stay out of her personal life, since he knew that she wanted to move on. That didn't surprise him at the time, he really regretted it. She then smiled widely, and it became more obvious that she'd had a great time. "Good, good I think."

"I didn't know you were gay. I kinda thought…" He really hadn't thought that she was gay, though it was obvious that maybe she was. He didn't have anything against it, he really didn't, but she'd been giving him signals that maybe she was interested in him. He had hoped that she was interested in him. Maybe she wasn't though.

"I'm not gay, I'm…" She trailed off, clearly trying to think of how to phrase her thoughts about it. He was waiting for her as he drove a little further. Because it seemed like this crime scene was out in the middle of nowhere. After a good five minutes Percy just blurted out the rest of her comment. "Well I'm bisexual."

"Oh really? That's interesting." He said, seeing the flashing lights and parked up by the side. As they got out he'd tried to think of another way to say everything was fine, but none of it was coming out as he intended, and it seemed like no matter what happened the words that came out of his mouth came off the wrong.

"Can we focus on the scene, since we're waiting on Merri and Pride?" It was quite clearly a rhetorical question, but he went to answer it anyway. Percy clearly noticed that and just stared at him for a moment. Long enough that he stopped and just started looking around and going over their body. "Focus, Christopher."

"For that matter, where is Loretta?" He looked around, and he'd just expected for the medical examiner to be there, but Loretta was nowhere around. That was another thing that was a little bit odd about this particular Sunday. It just all seemed to be a little bit off and he couldn't work out why.

"Probably on her way. It was her Sunday too." Percy actually was starting to sound like she was pissed at him, and he decided that he needed to try and change the topic again. He went back to focusing on the conversation he'd started on before, about Percy's date with Deena the bartender.

"So, you going out with Deena again?" He prompted, and there was a moment where he felt like he would set on fire from the glare she gave him. Clearly, she had thought that they weren't going to get back onto that topic of conversation. She really wanted to get away from that, clearly.

"Friday night, providing I don't have to work." He was pretty sure that they would be able to make something up for Friday night. Then again, if they got a Friday night off, the rest of the team would probably kill him for making something up just to ruin Percy's date. They would probably all have plans. There were other ways he could go about ruining it, though most of them would probably be considered petty.

"I'm sure I can sabotage that." He teased, snapping a pair of gloves on as he started pulling out markers to catalogue the evidence and smiled at Percy, trying to show that he was mostly teasing her. She didn't seem to take it the way he intended, and again he felt the heat from another death glare.

"Don't you dare." She threatened, and he could actually tell that Percy was genuinely happy about this. Which actually disappointed him a little. He'd just assumed that eventually she would get bored and he would be able to show her that he could offer her so much more. "I actually really like her, Chris, and I might stand a chance at something that means something. Something that could make me happy." There was something about the way she said that that made him a little worried that she wasn't happy already.

"There are a lot of things that could make you happy, Sonja." He commented, standing up and coming to stand beside her, there was a conversation that could happen here that they didn't really need the whole of the NOPD to overhear. He knew that she was even more private than he was, and he wouldn't want that really. Not when they still had so much they were supposed to be working out.

"This is one of them." She replied earnestly, it seemed like she was absolutely certain about all of this, and that made him happy for her, in a way. He still didn't think she was doing the right thing, and he wasn't sure that she wasn't just doing this to make him jealous. "You like her, so do the guys. Pride liked her enough to hire her." He knew that they all liked Deena, when all she was was someone in the bar they could laugh with, this was a totally different matter.

"We like her as a bartender, someone we can tease… Her dating you… that's a different matter." He wanted to remind her how they all vetted the guys Brody dated, but given the way the last two had gone that probably wasn't the best of examples. Gatornation had been a bad choice from the word go, and Russo had pulled the wool over all of their eyes.

"Maybe for you, not for them." The look in her eyes was as though she was begging him to leave this alone, but he couldn't do that. He was about to reply when she continued speaking. "I know you want more than I can give you right now, just give it time." That wasn't fair, not really. He'd left that alone, back weeks ago right after Russo's case.

"I told you, I backed off that, have I made you think any different?" He said that probably louder than he intended. He wasn't paying that much attention to everything around them, even though he knew he should be. He was too focused on what Percy had basically just accused him of.

Suddenly from behind them came a cough, and turning they saw Pride and Brody just staring at them. Pride had a look of concern, while Brody looked mildly amused. "Are we interrupting something?" Pride asked, and LaSalle ended up turning to Percy, letting her answer it so he knew which way he should go with it.

"No, we were… talking." Percy said, just glaring at him. At least she wasn't telling their conversation, or the fact they had definitely been having a brief problem. Sure, he probably shouldn't be acting this way about the fact that she just had a date, but it was disappointing and he maybe wasn't processing this the best way.

"Yeah, it looked like you were… talking." Brody smirked, and one look at his friend told him that she knew far more than she was letting on. She probably knew all about what they were talking about though. She and Percy talked a lot, he knew that, and therefore Brody probably knew all about it.

"Sonja, Merri, go speak to the witnesses." Pride said, clearly catching on to the fact something was going on between the two agents. LaSalle couldn't help but turn and glare at Percy again for a moment but Brody had already put a hand on her shoulder and had started her away.

"Sure King." Brody called back over her shoulder, and LaSalle watched them walk off then turned back to Pride, hoping that his friend didn't start asking for details as he really didn't want to have to lie, but he would have to if he asked. As far as he knew Pride didn't know for a fact what had gone on between them a few weeks ago, and right now he didn't need to know.

"Gather the evidence, and Chris?" Pride called his attention back, and it was obvious that even if he didn't know the details, Pride knew that there was something going on between Percy and LaSalle, and that was no doubt going to make this more difficult than he was used to. Since Savannah he'd tried not to let so much affect him, but obviously that didn't always happen. Pride was probably going to advise he work a little more on that.

"I already know, King?" He replied and shook his head, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't actually be pushed. He wasn't sure that he could go into it in public, and he didn't think that it would look good if he and his boss got into an argument in the middle of a crime scene either. There was a point where he'd begin to look unprofessional.

"Get your head in the case. Not your private life." Once again, Pride made LaSalle wonder exactly how in tune with his agents he was. Sure, he and Percy had been arguing a little, but it hadn't distracted him. He did want to continue the argument, but knowing that Pride had separated them to prevent exactly that. He was just hurt that she didn't want to talk to him about what was going on with her, and in a way he kinda just wished she had picked him after all.


	16. Chapter 16

Walking away from Pride and LaSalle, Percy couldn’t help but grumble. What right did he really think he held to be like this about her date. It was nothing about who or what he wanted, it was about what she wanted. She tried to keep the grumbling to a minimum, figuring that Brody probably didn’t want to know about this fight, just another in a long line of them recently. She couldn’t help the level of her grumbles rising until she probably should have just given up the pretence all together. “Sanctimonious, entitled, shitheaded asshole.”

“Don’t hold back, tell me how you really feel.” Brody commented with a laugh after a few seconds, and Percy had to stop and seriously think for a moment before continuing. She and LaSalle had had a fight, and that had royally pissed her off. She didn’t understand how he could be encouraging her one minute, then criticising the next. It felt like she just couldn’t get on the right foot.

“Sorry I just…” She started to explain, then realised that there weren’t really the words to explain what had been going on. Brody had probably seen enough of it, given when she and Pride had actually managed to interrupt them. “We were having a fight, again.” That seemed like the safest place to leave it, the most accurate and truthful definition too.

“That seemed obvious.” Brody replied with another mirthful laugh. At least it seemed like someone was amused about all of this. For her, it wasn’t so amusing. “Is this still about what happened after the… you know?” Brody was the only person who knew about what had almost happened, and she was far more supportive of them sorting their own shit out than Percy would have expected. 

“Kind of. I assume that Sebastian told you I had a date yesterday?” Percy hadn’t seen Brody in the last couple of days, so she hadn’t had a chance to mention it for herself. But she knew that Sebastian spoke to her more, and he couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it. Not that Percy having a date needed to be a secret, necessarily.

“I heard something about that.” Brody nodded then looked down to Percy slightly apologetically and frowned. “Been so busy the last few days with this wedding.” Percy knew LaSalle had some giant conspiracy theory about the wedding, but Percy wasn’t buying it. Especially not for what LaSalle was trying to imply. 

“We all noticed, a friend of you and King, right?” It was worth asking, then at least she could go back to LaSalle with essentially proof that he was wrong and then maybe he would shut up about it. She wasn’t going to hold her breath, however. He would probably find some other ‘proof’ that he was right.

“Yeah, someone I knew from Iowa who King helped train years ago.” Brody hadn’t even missed a beat, which convinced her that LaSalle really was dead wrong in his theory. She’d then just stood quietly for a moment before clearly Brody remembered she was meant to be telling a story. “Are you gonna finish this story about the date?”

“Oh, yeah. So I had a great time, we’re going on another on Friday night since there is a chance we’ll both be off.” Percy was willing to beg Brody to see what she could do about that. Because it just wasn’t going to work if they were always working and she never actually got to see the person she was trying to date. She distracted herself for a second wondering how Brody had maintained multiple relationships in this job, then remembered that she hadn’t really, so she went back to thinking about LaSalle’s reaction to her plans. “But telling LaSalle about that he went nuts.”

“Really?” Brody looked surprised at that. There were some fundamental differences between the situations though. LaSalle had always thought of Merri as a big sister, and while he was there for her, Brody had never heard some of the things LaSalle said about them in private. “He’s always supported my bad relationship decisions. OK that’s probably not the best example.

Percy decided it was better to shrug that off and not address it, moving on to LaSalle’s reaction rather than Brody’s regular adventures in dating, which never ended well. “Yeah, it was like I’d personally offended him or something.” Percy thought on it again, and there was nothing it could be other than his reaction to her rejecting him a few weeks earlier. “So, that was great, and what you guys walked in on.” She tried to be a little more upbeat, but she doubted it worked.

“We guessed there was something going on.” Brody confirmed, and somehow that made it all a little more farcical in Percy’s mind. They shouldn’t be bringing this stuff to a crime scene. They should be focusing on the case not fighting about their personal lives. “The date was with that sweet bartender at CFA, right?” Brody asked after a few seconds of silence, and Percy couldn’t help but smiling, really not understanding what it was that Deena saw in her. 

“Yeah, Deena. She’s beautiful and really sweet.” She would happily admit that she had had more than a little crush on Deena at first, but figured that she was so out of her league that there was no point trying. Percy was mostly glad that Deena hadn’t agreed with that and had decided to take the bull by the horns.

“She is beautiful, not my type though. I’m a little too straight.” That was a longstanding joke between the two of them. Brody was straight, very straight, and Percy had teased her about that from time to time. She’d never met a woman quite as hetero as Brody, and that made her kind of unique.

“Aggressively so, even.” She continued teasing, then just shook her head. Given recent events, she doubt that a relationship was something that Brody stayed away from. Likely unless the ex-fiance was back on the scene. “I’d assume you’re kind of off relationships right now, after all that happened with Russo.” 

“Kinda, there is someone but... I’m not rushing in this time. Taking it slowly.” There was something about the way Brody said that that made Percy think that she wasn’t taking this new relationship at all slowly. That didn't actually surprise her at all, Brody was not the type who took things slowly. That was part of how they’d ended up in this situation. 

“Anyone we know?” Percy decided to keep prodding, just to see how Brody responded. She normally played her cards close to her chest though, and if she decided that she didn’t want anyone to know something, then they wouldn’t know. It was as simple as that. Percy had learnt the little hints that told her more about what Brody was thinking than she would let on.

“Classified.” Brody smiled and looked like she was going to say more than that but she just shook her head and smiled. Clearly at that point Merri decided that it was time that she change the subject back on to Percy. “What are you gonna say to Chris?”

“Oh, ho.” That was all she could really think about Brody’s ‘classified’ comment, that said that it could be almost anyone. As for LaSalle, Percy had to admit that she was at a total loss about what to do with him. “I honestly don’t know. He’s still acting like I just made the worst decision back in May and I really don’t think I did.”

Brody nodded slowly, and Percy recognised the look on her face as being her processing face, where she worked through the evidence. “You two are close, and you’ve got... whatever it is between the two of you. I don’t know what it is, and really I’m not sure it’s my business either way.” Brody paused, then waved a hand in front of them. “I mean I can listen and advise, I always will, but that’s it.”

“You and King are close, you two don’t have any of this adolescent sexual tension stuff.” At least, none that Percy had observed. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t there, all it meant was that Percy hadn’t seen it. Given how private they both were, if there was tension they would be able to hide it better than she and LaSalle. “I guess I’m just done with this right now, it’s getting too much.”

“I wouldn’t always base your partnership off mine. All partnerships are different.” Brody said quietly and that made Percy stop and listen. She was not experienced in any kind of partnership, romantic or otherwise. Brody on the other hand, seemed to have plenty of bad experiences of both. “I’ve been partnered up with a lot of people over the years, and I’ve never had one like the one I have now. No two partnerships are the same.” 

“So you mean... this could just be the dynamic Chris and I are going to have?” Percy wasn’t sure she liked that idea or how that sounded. She definitely didn’t like that it wasn’t going to be easy for them to get over this hump it seemed. So she really hoped that this wasn’t the way it was going to remain. 

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Brody nodded and all Percy could do was groan as loudly as possible. she had wanted reassurance, not being told that this could be how it was now. She didn’t want to have this, she wanted the partnership she’d had a year ago. “It’s not always easy, and it won’t always be what you want, but if it works then it works.”

“How do you and King keep your partnership going the way you do?” That was a question that had plagued Sonja since she’d transferred to NCIS. Brody and Pride’s working relationship was one of the most stable and natural that she’d ever even heard of, and that made her curious about it.

“We’re workaholics, way more than you and Chris. We spend a lot of time in the office, going through cold cases, learning how each other works through the evidence, how we work through the information given...” Brody trailed off and left it at that, and Percy had to admit that while both she and LaSalle worked hard, often after hours, it was rarely so singlemindedly. It was never their all.

“You ever gotten too close to a partner?” Percy asked, wondering for a moment if she was maybe straying into the realm of being ‘too’ personal. Given how Brody had a habit of shutting down if things hit too close to home. 

“I don’t think you can get ‘too’ close.” Brody surprised her by answering honestly and being very calm about it. It was a good answer, but she wasn’t sure that Brody was right. “Boundaries are crossed, that’s not unusual, and it’s also not always a bad thing.”

“Sometimes, it is really obvious that you were made for this kind of field work. The kind that just… some people aren’t suited to.” Percy smiled, complimenting her friend the best she could. She knew that Brody was designed to work for this. “The details, the connections. You and King both make them faster than anyone else I know, and you two are often three points ahead of me and Chris.”

“Just the way our minds work, and we’ve been at this longer. I’ve been doing this… a decade longer than you, 7 years longer than Chris.” That was mostly estimation. She didn’t know how long the others had been with NCIS, other than King. “Then King’s got another 10 years at least on me, and that’s if we don’t count his time with JPSO.”

“Probably even more than that, for me at least. Undercover investigations aren’t the same as this. It’s a big adjustment.” Percy nodded and sighed a little. Her undercover work had been fulfilling and she’d loved it, but it was very different than this. This wasn’t what she was good at.

“You’ve done it well, Sonja. Don’t doubt that.” Brody added, patting her on the shoulder again. Nodding then to the people who were moving along waiting to be interviewed by the NCIS team. “Come on, it’s time to do our favourite part of the job.”

“Can I kick them if they don’t answer?” She asked, mostly meaning it as a joke about the fact that she was angry and frustrated. That wouldn’t be something that they allowed for her to do, but it was still worth asking.

“No.” Brody shook her head and put a hand on Percy’s shoulder in support. If this was the way it was going to be maybe Percy needed to stop fighting it and just accept that she needed to get this all done. LaSalle would have problems if he had problems, and she couldn’t change that. All she could do was look forward. 


	17. Chapter 17

It had been a long day, and Brody was actually glad to have gotten home. Since the wedding this morning so much had happened. The case was not quite what was expected either, and she and Percy had spent hours with the witnesses, and then hours in the lab. It was exactly what they had needed to learn something, and then they got home. Sitting on the bed she sat brushing through her hair. A second later she felt a weight on the bed behind her, and smiled feeling lips on her neck. “How was Sonja the rest of today?” It wasn’t the most personal of questions, but it fit with exactly who they were.

“I’m glad you listened to my advice of letting me drive her back via the lab.” Brody smiled and turned to kiss him for a moment then went about brushing her hair again. Letting Pride get himself comfortable behind her, his legs either side of her, and kissing the back of neck. “She and LaSalle are having issues again.”

“About the thing you won’t tell me about?” He replied, and Brody had managed to keep that secret despite how close she and Pride had gotten. To her, keeping the confidence of her friends actually meant almost as much as being honest with her partner. She was walking a fine line, but he didn’t push. She was fairly certain at this point that he knew anyway.

“Yeah, she also has apparently been comparing their partnership to ours.” That had been a strange conversation. But Merri had had so many partnerships over the years that she was so very used to the fact that they were not ever going to be normal. There was no such thing as normal when it came to these kinds of work dynamics. They were as individual as the people doing the job.

“Well, that was never going to be a good thing.” Pride replied, kissing the back of her neck between words as his hands slid around her waist. She could tell that right now he cared less about LaSalle and Percy than on celebrating the fact they were here together. Truth be told, she’d rather focus on that too.

“I know that.” She smiled and turned her head to face him a little as he leant round to kiss her lips deeply. She twirled the ring around on her finger, happy to feel it back in place. She could already tell it was going to become more and more difficult to take it off before work. “Hmm, our first night together married.”

“It is. I’m glad everyone partied themselves out while we were at work.” He was still kissing along her shoulders as he spoke, and she leant forward a little to try and get him to stop for a few minutes while they finished up a serious conversation about work. What happened with Percy and LaSalle would affect them eventually.

“Me too, as it means I get you all to myself.” She smirked a little and kissed him again then leant her back against his chest, holding on to his arms as he held her tightly. She was actually enjoying being able to sit like this and talk about work. “What was Chris like this afternoon?”

“Quiet, not his usual self.” Pride rested his head on her shoulder and sighed softly. She moved back against him a little more and nodded, sure that Chris had probably not been a joy to work with. “I may leave us teamed up like this for a few days, me with Chris, you with Sonja. Let them try and work it out.”

“I’m not sure that distance is going to be the best thing for them to work things out.” Brody knew their friends, probably better than Pride did, and she was certain that splitting them up was the worst thing he could do. They needed to be forced to spend time together, so they couldn’t run away from each other. “They aren’t us, Dwayne. We both process things very privately, we have to know how we think of something before we can approach it with each other.”

He just looked at her for a few minutes as if he was the most confused person on the planet. “Right, and?” He was clearly needing her to spell it all out for him, and that actually wasn’t the most confidence-inspiring he’d ever been. She really loved him, but sometimes he was far too dense for his own good.

“You should know this, they need to deal with it together, or they’ll never get past it.” She had figured them out pretty quickly. It was part of why she and LaSalle had never been as good as partners. They just approached their partnership very, very differently. It was a lot easier with Pride, as they all dealt with things the same way.

“You’re probably right.” Pride nodded, and after a few seconds where he hadn't kissed her, he started kissing her neck again. She bit her lip a little as he kissed further up and bit her shoulder softly. “My very smart wife.” He muttered quietly into her ear, and she turned to kiss him deeply. The two of them were just getting used to the situation, she was ready for that.

“King, we have to be at work in the morning.” She muttered and laughed a little. While she really wanted to give in to this for right now, she also knew there were things that they needed to talk about. She was very specific about what she wanted to talk about, but unsurprisingly she was getting distracted by him. “You’re a bad influence, Special Agent Pride.” She continued as he kept kissing her neck.

“And you enjoy every minute of it, Special Agent Brody.” He laughed and kissed her once more then pulled back, clearly deciding that allowing her to talk about what she wanted to talk about. She leant back against his chest and felt his arms tightening around her again. She then had to focus on what it was she wanted to talk about.

“I was thinking today, while I let Sonja rant herself out.” She started slowly, not really sure how to phrase it exactly. Normally she wasn't good at all of this. In her personal life, words weren't her forte. She tried as hard as she could, but often she messed up. She was going to start trying though.

“What?” He asked, moving a little so that he could look around her and see what it was that she was thinking about. Brody realised that he was really concerned that this was something bad, but it really wasn't. She actually hoped that he'd like it.

“You should move in here.” That came out more bluntly than she'd anticipated, and while she knew that he'd agree she also knew they'd need a reason for ways to make it appear as though he was doing it for another reason. “We can cover it with the team, say you’re moving in to help me deal with an escalation in my insomnia since John.”

“Which actually wouldn’t be that much of a lie.” Pride said after a moment, and Brody stared at him. There was literally no way that he could possibly know that, she'd never told him exactly how much it was bothering her, and somehow she was confused by him saying that. He just kissed her neck again, clearly knowing he was right. “Your insomnia is worse, and so are your flashbacks.”

“How in the name of fuck did you know that. I never told you that.” She would never have told him, only because she didn't actually believe that he had figured it all out. Then again, he knew her better than anyone else on the planet, of course he'd managed to figure out exactly how much it had all actually affected her.

Pride was holding her tight still, and she knew that he was trying to support her as best he could. “Merri, I know you.” He said it quietly, whispering in her ear. It was perfect, and she knew in that instance that she'd married the perfect person for her. Maybe he wasn't the best person in the world, but he was for her. “I know everything about you, including when you can’t sleep.” He went back to kissing her neck again, and his hands slid down her front.

“This is a serious conversation, Dwayne, you can’t be doing this while we talk.” She really knew that he wanted to distract her in case she started getting too depressed over it all, but she wasn't sure this was the best way to do it. Then again, what other way was there? She wasn't the easiest person to distract at the best of times.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked, and they both knew the answer to that really. Regardless of how serious the topic was, they could find some personal time together. That was as important as almost anything else, and she was actually happy to give it over right now.

“Fine, we’ll talk after.” She grinned and and laid back pulling him over her. Brody had spent a lot of time with him, but this was exactly what she needed after the end of the day. Pride was clearly feeling the same way, and as they joined together she was feeling better about their situation. At least for the moment, but she knew that something needed to change before long.

Some time later she stopped and took a deep breath as they were laid together in the happy afterglow. “So, back to my pre-sex conversation. Will you move in with me?” She asked him again, a little better than the first time. She wanted a full answer, just so she knew where they stood. They really were doing this all backwards. “I know, traditionally, that question comes before you’ve exchanged vows, but we were never traditional, were we?”

“Never, not since the day you came here… and accidentally hastened my divorce.” Pride smiled a little, but Merri lifted herself up at that. What on Earth did that mean, how could she have possibly played any part in his divorce. They had split up long before Merri had moved to New Orleans.

“Hang on, how did I hasten your divorce?” She was so confused by that, and she frowned a little more, because she didn't want to think about the fact she could inadvertently be a homewrecker with no actual behaviour on her part. She'd never wanted to get between Linda and Pride.

“I fell for you, a long time before I ever admitted it… and after I saw you in that nightdress on Halloween…” At the look on his face she really didn't want to know what he'd though after seeing her in that nightdress. She already knew about LaSalle, though he said he'd found it mostly weird. Pride on the other hand.

“Don’t finish that thought, I don’t wanna know.” She laughed a little but shook her head. If that was what had hastened his divorce it really wasn't her fault. He was the lunatic who had imagined another woman. Right now, she'd kill him if he tried to do that now.

“It was a fun thought though.” He teased, then leant up and kissed Brody as hard as he could. She put a hand on his cheek and smiled wider, enjoying just laying there and kissing him a few times. Getting deeper for a few moments, and she pulled back before it went too far.

She still knew that, whatever Pride had thought about that costume, she didn't want to know. “I don’t wanna know. I know exactly how dirty minded you are now.” She laughed and continued stroking his cheek, amazed that this was how life was right now. How she hoped life would keep going. Clearly after watching her for a minute, Pride felt like he needed to say something.

“Meredith Brody. Today you have made me the happiest man on the planet. I never thought I’d get a second chance, but you gave me one.” He reached up this time and took her hand, then moved to kiss her gently and smiled. “I’d love to move in here too, waking up with my beautiful wife every day.” She blushed at those words, because it was still hard for her to believe that anyone really thought of her that way.

“You do not need to keep trying to flatter me, I already have the ring.” She wiggled her fingers, that since they were both off work she'd put her rings back on. She only took them off at work. Brody didn't ever want to deny her marriage once they were out in public. She loved him so much, it would be a dangerous precedent if she did.

“Maybe it’s all just the truth?” Pride teased, leaning up and kissing her again with a laugh. He actually believed she was that beautiful woman, and he was more than a little amazed about that. Not even James had been so liberal with his praise and compliments, and when he was in that kind of a mood, Pride liked to tell her exactly how he felt about her.

“Whatever it is… Thank you King.” She was honest about that, she just wasn't used to the fact that someone really believed any of these things about her. Looking at him she had to stifle a yawn, and falling asleep now seemed like it would be the better idea.“We really should get some sleep though, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

“We do, for work.” He agreed after only a few seconds, then pulled her into his arms as close as he could. The feeling about that made her feel safe and protected. She just really wanted for that to stay the same way forever. She knew he would keep her safe as long as she needed him to. “I love you.”

“You too, King.” She whispered back and leant over to kiss him softly. It hardly felt like it had only been 15 hours ago that they’d exchanged vows, yet here they were. She was now officially married, and not only that he was going to be living here too. That was a big change for 24 hours, but for the first time in her life, Brody was certain she’d done the right thing. There were no doubts in her mind, and she still wasn’t used to that. She could be though.


	18. Chapter 18

Pride hadn’t been sure, entirely, that they were making the right decision. He and Brody had originally said they weren’t going to go too fast, that marriage was really their first step on promising each other they were going to work things out, yet not even 48 hours after they had exchanged vows he was packing his room up and planning to move in with her. He knew he loved her, he knew that his entire life was going to change because she was in it. But he was afraid of pushing too far, too fast. He’d left the team searching downstairs, and was up looking at what he could take, and what he was going to leave here as storage. “Hey boss, what you doing?” He heard from the doorway, and looked up to see Percy standing watching him.

“Packing.” There was no point denying it, as he was actually going to be leaving the office they’d all figure out before long that something had changed. That was why he and Brody had thought up a cover story for it. He knew that, eventually, she’d get to the point where she was ready to tell people about their relationship, but he wasn’t going to push that as it was going to mean they had to answer a lot of questions professionally.

“You found a place to live?” Sonja asked, and Pride just looked up and smiled. Of course that was going to be the first question he was asked when he said he was packing. He had a place to live, his room. Now he just had a different place to sleep for a while. At least as far as anyone else knew.

“Kind of.” He just smiled a little and shrugged, he knew what LaSalle was saying about them and was certain that no matter what they said, he was going to keep pushing that theory. He would use this as a lot more evidence toward that. “I’m moving in with Brody for a while.”

“What? Are you and her…?” At least Percy had the decency to ask rather than just make the assumption, unlike Christopher. It was going to hurt to have to lie about this, largely because Pride wanted to tell the universe that he and Brody were married and that they were going to be very happy about it. 

“No.” Yep, that had hurt, even more than he’d originally thought it would. At least they’d thought up this story, something they could use. “She’s struggling a lot after Russo, her insomnia is worse and she can’t seem to settle. I have to look out for her. I’d do it for any of you and I'm kind of proud of her, that she got to the point where she could ask.” He actually was proud of her for asking, just not the question he was crediting her with.

“I thought she was handling it well.” Percy replied, tilting her head as she thought. Of course they were all a little concerned about how Brody was dealing with the results and fallout of everything that Russo had put her through. It had all happened so fast but caused so many problems. “Proves how good she is at hiding things.” That was another very apt observation. 

“She hid her sister from her NCIS colleagues for almost 8 years, when she doesn’t want someone to know something, they won’t know.” In some ways, that made him even prouder of her, because she was starting to let her colleagues here in on her thoughts and fears. That was what Brody needed, even i she wouldn’t admit it.

“King… She's OK though, right?” Percy looked absolutely terrified that possibly Brody wasn’t dealing with it at all. Maybe that would be a fair question with most other agents. If their insomnia or mental health issues were serious enough they wanted someone to live with them, there would be concern. For Brody though, this was all just the sign that she was ready and willing to move on.

He took all of that as a positive, and he would make sure that everyone else knew that it was a positive thing too. “She is, even with this… She is doing well.” He actually allowed himself a smile, hoping that Percy was being reassured by the conversation that they were having. 

“You'll keep an eye on her, right?” Percy clearly took his word, but still wanted to make sure that their friend was being cared for and protected. The one thing that he could promise to provide was safety. She needed that more than anything else, really. He doubted that Meredith Brody had felt safe in decades, but he would try to change that.

“That's why I'm doing this.” He confirmed, reaching in and putting more into one of his boxes. Mostly trying to just not look at her for a moment. If he did he was going to give it away. He was already having trouble not blurting out that he was married again, it would only get worse after conversations like this one.

“Has she told you what's going on with me and Chris?” That question was asked with some trepidation, and changing the direction of the conversation meant that Pride thought that he would actually be able to look up at Percy again without totally giving everything away.

“No, I asked, but she won't tell me.” He shook his head, and while Brody had mentioned they were having issues, he’d never been able to get anything more out of her, and for a while he’d tried every day. “She's your friend and I'm your boss, she won't tell me unless she knows that you want me to know. She's a good girl.” 

“If I knew what was going on in Chris’ mind, I'd tell you.” There was a hint of despair and annoyance in her voice, and that concerned Pride more than almost anything right now. If this situation with LaSalle was getting her down, he might need to sit the two of them down and have a conversation.

“Do you want to tell me, Sonja, or are you just rambling on about this because I'll listen?” He had to ask the question, because at least if she was thinking about it and talking because she just needed to talk, he could sit and listen and not press her for any details. 

“Working out how I feel is the more pressing issue, I think.” She ended up commenting, and Pride could respect that too. If she needed to talk he was happy to sit and listen and let her get it all out. Whatever she needed from him he was happy enough to provide it. “So, you and B need our help moving things… like your bed or piano?” 

“I was just going to get some movers in again for the bigger things.” He looked to the room, and the fact he had boxed almost everything up. About half the boxes were files, things that probably shouldn’t leave the office. 

“We can probably do it ourselves, Brody doesn't live far. We could get the all the boxes in Chris’ van.” LaSalle did have a large van, they should be able to fit everything in there. It was the easiest thing, and they would be easy to do it right now. Then he could actually be all moved in by the end of the day, and then he wouldn’t need to think about anything else. 

“I’m glad the piano is at the bar.” He pointed out, wondering if Percy had just missed the fact that the piano hadn’t been in his room now for some time. He’d moved it over to the bar almost as soon as he’d bought it, knowing that was a better place for the piano than the room in the office.

Percy laughed after he pointed that out and jokingly slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. At least she did chuckl good-naturedly, as if she knew that she’d said something spectacularly dumb. “Oh yeah, Merri’s place would be kinda small for it.” 

“She’s also such a light sleeper, wouldn’t get such great reviews if I woke her up playing it while I thought.” That was what he tended to do when his piano was nearby, he’d sit and play something while he thought about the case or the situation, whatever it was that was plaguing his mind and stopping him from sleeping.

“How much time have you been spending with Merri? Roy said you’ve not been staying here that much recently.” He had completely forgotten that their doorman always knew when he was in and when he wasn’t, either from whoever was on the door overnight or from his own observations of the comings and goings of the agents.

“The reason we’re taking this step is that she’s been needing me, or someone at least, to help her feel safe. I’d rather be there for her than here letting her suffer.” Even if their new marriage was not a consideration, Pride wouldn’t want to have Brody left alone to deal with all of her current issues. Nobody deserved that. “That’s how she fell into Russo’s hands to begin with.”

“You’re right, of course.” Percy nodded, then clearly she noticed that there was someone behind her, before Pride had even noticed there was someone else near them. When he looked up he saw his wife stood in the doorway, and within a couple of seconds Percy clearly knew that it was time to go to work again. “I should get back to work, hey B.”

“Sonja.” Brody smiled, stepping into the room as Percy passed her, then shut the door behind her. Clearly wanting a little bit of privacy. Pride was secretly happy about that, as he desperately wanted to have some alone time with her right now. “Wondered what was taking you so long?” She asked quietly, looking around the room.

“I was packing.” He patted the box that was at his feet and smiled widely at her. He knew that she’d asked, he’d said yes and this was all happening, but he’d just had to make sure it all happened immediately, before one or the other of them pulled out. “Thought we could move as soon as possible.”

“You don’t need to come right away if you’d rather spend some time getting used to all this.” Brody didn’t sound at all genuine, and he was actually fairly sure that she was as excited about his moving in with her as he was. This was the best thing to have happened for him in many years, and he was going to hold it with both hands.

“I don’t want to spend another night without you.” He said honestly, then took the opportunity to stand up and kiss her as hard as he could. Just a few seconds but it made all the difference when all he’d wanted all day was to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. “Any news on the case?”

“Chris thinks he’s found a lead, he’s taking Sonja out to look at it.” Brody smiled, pulling her phone out and tapping him on the chest with it. “I’m going out to Slidell to re-interview my informant.” If he had a choice, she wouldn’t be, but it was her job and he wasn’t going to stop that.

“Need any help?” He had to ask, hoping that it would be something that he could do, even if he just stood there for intimidation purposes it would help him feel like he was needed. He was trying to let his agents work this case, but he was feeling decidedly less than useful through all of it.

Brody smiled, and clearly had some idea of the fact he wasn’t feeling needed tight then. “I don’t need it, but I’d love some company.” He smile definitely gave him a reason to go, and he was happy to stick to it like that.

“Then company I can offer. This can all wait until I get back.” He was about done, and grabbing the last few things wouldn’t take him too long. So he was ready to go and help out, but he needed to say one thing before they left. “I love you, Meredith.”

“Me too.” She smiled, then leant in to kiss him again for a second. A private moment before they went back to being the professional agents they were.  “Come on then, Special Agent Pride. We have bad guys to catch.” She laughed loudly, and he couldn’t help but follow her out into the office. They still had to work until they had something else to take their mind off of it. He was happy about the way this was going so far, they could clearly work and be married. They weren’t going to have a problem after all..


	19. Chapter 19

Whatever it was that Percy and Pride had been talking about LaSalle found he didn’t care as much as he normally would.  Normally he would want to know everything, but recently he was purposefully trying to not care as much about what Percy was doing. He needed to pull himself away, or her relationship with Deena was going to cause him more pain than a crush was worth. As they got in his van and headed out to the building where their witnesses supposedly were, they were both silent, but clearly Percy wasn’t convinced by his logic about coming out here. “You sure about this, Chris?” It was a fair question, and it was probably not going to lead to anything, but it was the only lead they had.

“No, but it’s the best we have right now.” That was the long and short of it. They didn’t have anything else, and they all wanted to get this case solved, there was a child who deserved justice for her father involved, and that was definitely making them all work harder on this case. At least it was for him, and it always made Brody and Pride work harder. “Short lead is better than no lead.”

“Fine.” Percy ended the conversation with that, and they remained silent through the rest of the drive. LaSalle could feel the distance that was building between the two of them, and he regretted it. They had been so close, and Percy had been a good friend after Savannah had died. Their complicated feelings about each other were almost ruining them it seemed. 

When they got to the house he stopped thinking about their personal situations, and instead he kept his hand on his weapon, a hinky feeling climbing up his spine as he looked down to Percy, who was on the other side of the door. “You wanna do the honours?” He nodded and smiled a little, knowing the psychology behind people being more likely to open the door first time if there was a woman’s voice.

“NCIS, open up.” Percy yelled, accompanying it with LaSalle’s loud knock on the door. Keeping their ears open they didn’t hear any change at all in the building. Normally if there was someone in, even if they weren’t going to answer you’d hear the scurrying of someone moving to hide things away or not do anything to give themselves away, which tended to give them away.

“Doesn’t look like anyone is home.” He conceded after a little more than a minute of waiting. If there was no sound normally there was nobody home. Looking around the property there was nothing obvious to say they’d be lying low. There was a flag fluttering in the breeze, and a smell of mid-summer in the air. That was really all there was. This could be any suburb in America.

“The car is in the driveway.” Percy commented, doing the same as him, just looking around the general area. Clearly trying to work out if there was any other way. They both stepped down and looked either side of the house. “Car in the driveway, upstairs windows are open.” She pointed to them all, and he had to remind himself of all the times that had happened and in fact it had been a rouse.

“Doesn’t mean anyone is home, they could have two cars, and it’s the upstairs windows.” He lived on the ground floor, so he didn’t tend to leave his windows open when he wasn’t in, but some of his neighbours on upper levels did. He stepped back to the door and prepared for another knock while Percy went back to her position. “Federal agents, we need to speak with you.” He hammered on the door this time, looking back over at Percy as she leant backwards to try looking through the window.

Whatever it was didn’t impress her, and after a few seconds she looked back to him and motioned him over, pointing to a lump on the floor. A lump in a pool of blood… and a clear human hand. Dammit. “Chris, there’s a victim on the floor.” Percy said a second later, but that had already dawned on him. He realised that they had a victim.

“Alright you agree we have to go in?” He asked, it was mostly a formality, as he didn’t necessarily need her agreement. He was the senior, and if he wanted to go, they were going to go. Not that it was really a question anymore, if there was a victim, dead or alive, they needed to go in.

“Yeah.” Percy eventually ended up nodding after a second. He reached up and turned the cap he was wearing around before pulling his weapon out, Percy was echoing his movements as they got into a position and he knocked on the door loudly once more. They needed to give plenty of warning. 

“NCIS we’re coming in!” He shouted then, and when the door was locked he turned around and kicked the door straight through. They didn’t have the time to waste, and listening for any more movement. He looked around and covered the door as Percy ran over to check the status of the victim. When she was silent for a moment longer than he expected he looked back to her and frowned.

“They alive?” He didn’t really like that he had to prompt her, but there was a look on her face that told him that she thought there was something else going on. She’d tell him when it had crystallised in her mind. That was how this always went. He was glad that no matter what was going on with them, he could still read her.

“No, I’ll call Wade.” She stood up again, and after pulling her phone out she looked toward the doorway. LaSalle knew that he still needed to clear the rest of the house, and he could do that while she called for the reinforcements they were going to need to sort this out. If they took it that way it would work better.

“I’ll clear the house.” He nodded around, making sure that she got to the front door before he continued looking around, clearing the kitchen and the back and starting on the stairs. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been going when he heard Percy re-entering downstairs. His ears were still trained on her as he cleared the rooms.

In the last room on the hall he heard a creak that was out of place, and within a second there was a pop, then pain in his side. It had happened so quickly it took him another second to notice the girl, all in black, running past him. “Chris!” He heard yelled, and realised Percy must have been outside the door still on the phone when she started to run. “Suspect running. Agent down.”

“I’m alright, go get her.” He yelled, not really wanting her to get away. It was going to be harder to sort anything out right now, as his mind was already swimming. He pulled his focus together and took a deep breath, focusing on where the pain was, in his thigh, and putting all the pressure he could stand on. He was sitting there running through anything else he could have done when he heard Percy coming back in the room, clearly empty-handed.

“She had a car.” That was the only explanation, and clearly she had decided that he didn’t need, or probably want, anything further than that. In truth, she was probably right. He trusted Percy to have done all she could without endangering anyone else. “Wade is on the way, as are Pride and Brody and an ambulance.”

LaSalle felt like all of that was too much, especially their co-workers coming out here. He didn’t need that, and this place would be best to be processed by Loretta, Sebastian and their team than anyone else. “I’ll be fine.” He tried to use as the argument. They probably both knew that was true, but that at the same time it was wrong.

“You’ve been shot, Chris.” Percy just sighed, dropping down beside him and putting more pressure on his leg. He hissed in pain as she put what felt like her entire weight into stopping the bleeding, and he had to admit it did help a little.  “Don’t be a baby.” She just replied, shaking her head a little with a smile.

“It’s only a flesh wound.” He said, chuckling to himself about that. Maybe it was fate that that had been what he’d decided to watch the night before. Just so that he would actually be able to use that line. He hadn’t thought it would be because he’d thought he’d be shot, but just bullied like usual by Brody and Percy. 

“Remind me not to let you ever watch Monty Python again.” Came Percy’s reply when he’d finished chuckling, and she still had the little smile on her face that she got when she wa amused but trying to pretend that she wasn’t amused. Over the last 18 months he’d learnt all her tells, and he knew when she was truly amused by something. What did bother him was how she’d known that was what he watched. 

“How did you know I watched Monty Python last night?” He just had to ask, as he couldn’t remember telling her what he’d watched, and she certainly hadn’t been there. It would have been very different if she had, and he doubted that they would have been watching Monty Python. More likely they would have watched something a little more action packed. 

“You just impersonated it perfectly.” Not even quoted it, but impersonated it. That was somewhat impressive, as he doubted he could pull out a John Cleese-esque accent even if he tried as hard as he possibly could. His accent and that just wouldn’t mesh, so he figured she was being polite.

“Oh, I didn’t even realise.” He smirked and sighed a little, looking down to where their hands were on his leg, both of them putting pressure on the wound. Knowing that the paramedics and their team would just come right in to find them. It would be safer that way too. “I’ll be fine Sonja.” He tried again, hopping that maybe this time she’d believe him.

“Let the paramedics decide that.” She clearly was having none of it, and LaSalle fought the urge to roll his eyes like a child losing a temper tantrum. It was actually good that she was thinking about this, because he certainly wasn’t, not really. “I’ll wait around and take you home.” 

“How will you do that?” He’d driven them out there in his van, and as far as he could remember Percy had been complaining about her car being in the shop for nearly a month now. Clearly it was broken and she should just suck it up and get a new one, but she probably wouldn’t.

“I’ll follow the ambulance in your van.” She looked to him and smiled a little, which actually terrified him when it came to his van. He loved that thing, and Percy knew it. She’d probably take it off roading or something while he wouldn’t be able to stop her, and she’d do it just to annoy him. The mental image of Percy and her short legs driving his car amused him deeply.

“You won’t be able to reach the peddles.” He smiled, taking the opportunity to laugh again, even though the pain in his leg was getting worse and he just wanted people to turn up now so that he could leave. Leaving would be his preference now, even if he couldn’t go home immediately.

“I can move the seat.” She grinned, and as LaSalle thought about that he realised how much of a pain in the ass that was going to have to be. He would have to reposition everything so that it was how he liked it again. That was going to be a pain in the ass. “You’ll hate it. It’s all worthwhile.”

“I hate you.” He grumbled, accepting that he probably should have known that this kind of teasing was coming, but he was still grumpy about the fact that she was using his car as the weapon of choice today. He could take almost anything, but he felt like she should leave his car out of it.

“No you don’t.” She laughed and shook her head. He was too put off by the threat to his car to even think about it through past the statement. He really didn’t like her right now, only because of the threat the van. But she was right, he didn’t hate her, and he doubted he ever could.

“No I don’t and that’s part of my problem.” LaSalle was staring at her, and he couldn’t help but think again about how she was beautiful, even when she was so concentrated on his leg. As if noticing his gaze she looked up and smiled. That gave him the thought to sit forward a little and kiss her softly. She returned the pressure a moment later, then pulled back. He shook his head a little and realised that he should be the one to apologise, she was seeing someone and he needed to respect that. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s… It’s OK, keep pressure on that and I’ll go see if Merri and Pride are here.” She was up and out of the door faster than he would have expected, and he was surprised that he had no idea how he could make up for what had just gone on. He’d need to work something out, but it wasn’t obvious to him right now. It was going to require some thought. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally halfway through this fic... 3 months after I started writing it...

Sitting in the bar with Patton and Sebastian, Percy couldn’t keep her mind off the member of their usual quad who was still on medical leave for a couple of days. Two weeks on and in reality Percy still wasn’t sure what was going through his mind. She’d tried to avoid him for the most part, and she felt like he’d been avoiding her too. They’d sent a few texts, nothing specific, just asking how each other are. “How is Chris doing?” Sebastian asked, and she realised that they all just expected that she’d be the one most in contact with him. 

“Being as big a pain in the ass as ever.” Even through texts he managed to do that, and she was actually always kind of proud of him for that. she wished sometimes that he was less of a pain, but she really wouldn’t want for him to be any other way. “He’ll be back on limited duty next week.” That was one of the few things she’d learnt from their texts. She kind of missed having him around the office, so she was glad he was about to come back.

“So soon?” Patton was the one a little surprised. Given that they’d all been there before when they’d come back to work after only a few hours of being shot. Sure it was rarely in the thigh and they’d rarely needed surgery the way LaSalle had, but that didn’t seem to be stopping him and his desire to come back to work as soon as was humanly possibly.

“It’s been two weeks, not that it feels that long.” She just knew that it was already too long for him to have stayed at home. Somehow she could imagine that LaSalle would be driving them all nuts if they didn’t let him come back soon. He’d still need to do some rehab, but he’d be back on their team and that was really what they all needed.

“You been seeing him?” Patton clearly picked up on something, and to say he wasn’t an agent, he was as observant as any of them. Sometimes more so than some of them in certain situations. That was one of the things that was going to bother her, because she’d seen him once, but it wasn’t like she’d been there a lot.

“A little, mostly Pride’s been checking on him.” At least there was a reason why she and the others hadn’t gone so much. Mama LaSalle was there, and from all reports she was actually more of a handful than Brody’s mom. “His mom came down from Alabama and she hasn’t met most of the team.”

“You guys OK over here?” Came a voice from behind her, and Percy smiled up as Deena put her hand on her shoulder. It was nice to have that, even if it meant that she was once again fighting with her guilt about the fact she hadn’t pushed LaSalle away faster two weeks earlier.

“Hey Deena. Yeah I’m good.” Sebastian smiled, clearly very fond of Percy girlfriend, it actually seemed as though everyone was fond of her, and that was another reason that Percy was feeling terrible for the fact that she and LaSalle had had their little moment. it was enough to have put her off and make her feel guilty.

“Want another beer Patton?” Deena was clearly paying them special attention, and Sonja wondered if half of it was that she wanted to spend more time with them and make sure that they all thought she was good enough. Percy was going to have to have that conversation with her soon, though she doubted that anyone minded the personalised service. Patton just nodded and smiled to Deena as she turned around to face Percy a little more. “I made us a reservation tomorrow night, if you think you’ll still be off?”

“Yeah, I might not be. Merri’s ex is coming back to town so she’s asked for tomorrow off too and she got her request in first.” Honestly, if Brody was going to actually spend time with someone else who might be able to help her with her issues, Percy didn’t mind losing her night off. “Just hope the criminals of New Orleans take a night off.”

“I’m going to do just that.” Deena grinned and was clearly happy that Percy was a least giving her the hope. Maybe between now and then Percy could speak to someone and work out how she felt and what was more important for her. Deena then picked her glass up and smiled. “Want a fresh one too?”

“Just an orange juice babe.” Percy didn’t want to actually drink too much tonight, as if she was going to be the main one working with King the following day she’d best be sober. It had been hard enough the last couple of weeks just the three of them, reducing that to two while Brody had a day off was going to stretch them.

“So, that’s still going strong then?” Patton nodded after Deena after she left their table and Percy had to look around to see her again before she thought of how to answer. It wasn’t easy to think about it while she was trying not to admit that she was feeling super guilty still.

“Yeah.” She was absolutely sure that her friends would catch the hesitation in her voice and she ended up looking between the two boys wondering if she could talk to them about this. For this kind of thing she normally waited until she could talk to Merri, but over the last few weeks their friend had been more absent than usual. “OK can you guys keep a secret.”

“No.” Patton said immediately without even having to think hard about it, at the same time Sebastian continued with that assessment of the two menus ability to keep a secret. “Absolutely not.” Somehow, Percy was completely unsurprised by that reaction really, even if she had hoped that they could be at least a little helpful.

“Why am I even friends with you all.” She grumbled a little, missing when Brody would be hanging around with them all. She knew that recently she’d been working on some of her issues rather intensely, and she’d been staying away from alcohol, which had definitely played a part in her getting into some of the situations that but her in danger. “I could do with Merri.”

Almost immediately Sebastian and smiled a little, and Percy wondered why before he spoke. “Speak of the devil.” He waved her over, and Percy wondered if the little crush he had on Brody was still in full force. That was one of the cutest things right now. Sebastian was so earnest in it, and he was the opposite of Brody’s type. “Merri what you doing here?”

“Huh?” She asked as she slid into the booth beside Percy. It was nice to see her back out, especially given that they had all been talking about how much she’d been missed over the last few weeks. “What’s going on?” There was a clear note of confusion in her voice and Percy chuckled a little. 

“You haven’t been seen around here much since Russo, let us get you a drink.” She waved to Deena with a grin and pointed to Merri before she decided that it was best that she be honest about the fact they had spoken about Brody more than once recently. “We’ve all missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, but I’ve needed to centre myself after that.” They all nodded, understanding how it was different for her than it was for any of the rest of them. Pride had certainly helped drill that into them all when they’d acted as though Brody was being selfish with her mood swings. 

“Hey, Sonja was just saying she could do with you...” Sebastian started before the rest of them all glared at him, and Percy had to admit she would have rather the conversation come around a little more naturally than Sebastian just pointing it out, but knowing the current situation it may have never gotten to that point.

“Come on, Captain Oblivious. Let’s leave the girls to talk and I’ll whup your skinny ass at darts.” Patton clearly realised faster than Sebastian that that hadn’t been the best move, and figuring out a way to remedy it a bit. They both moved away toward the dartboard giving Percy and Brody the privacy that Percy desperately wanted.

“What’s up?” Brody started once the boys were out of earshot. Percy loved that her friend waited that long, especially given that they weren’t always the most private team. It just seemed like they were all open to telling all the others about what was in their minds, it worked for them, but not always.

“First off, what’s going on with you, you seem distracted recently. Are you worried about James coming?” She wanted to make sure that Deena didn’t overhear any of this conversation, and since she hadn’t brought Merri’s drink over yet it was too much of a risk. She was also genuinely concerned about what was bothering Brody. She’d seemed distant even to Pride lately.

“Yeah, kinda. I just needed to get out of the house for five minutes.” Given that it had been two weeks since Pride had moved in with her, and Percy was honestly surprised that they had lasted this long. She knew that LaSalle didn’t by their ‘story’ of Brody needing extra help. Percy did though, she’d seen how close to a breakdown Brody had gotten. They all had really.

“King not the best housemate huh? At least he’s taking care of you.” That was an understatement really. They all knew how caring Pride was about his team, and that was doubled in Brody’s case given that Percy was fairly sure that he felt guilty that Brody had been left in the situation she’d been in with Russo to begin with. Seeing Deena coming over she decided she could start on the conversation as she made it about work. “I just had a weird couple of weeks and could really do with your help.”

“Of course, I’m here.” Brody smiled, and it was nice to see the woman who had forced her to open up when she first joined the team again. Brody was good at getting people to open up to her. At that moment drinks were put down in front of them, including Patton and Sebastian’s. “Thanks Deena, you always know what I like.” Brody grinned, then as the bartender turned away she went back to the conversation with Percy. “OK, shoot.”

Waiting until Deena was well out of earshot Percy let the issue just fall out of her mouth. She didn’t try to lessen it, she just said it how it was. “Chris kissed me. Right after he was shot.” Percy tried not to look at the slightly shocked look on Brody’s face, instead focusing on the table and the glass in front of her. “He kissed me and I kissed back and I have no idea what to do about it.”

“What do you want to do about it?” How did that seem like it should be the simplest question, yet was the hardest thing for her to actually answer. What did she want from it. There had been something for the last three months, since that case, and she hadn’t decided that was a good thing or not yet.

“I’m in a relationship, I shouldn’t have done it, but it felt so right at the time.” It really had, and she’d actually wanted it to continue, but then the memory of Deena had hit them both at the same time, and he’d apologised. “I really like Deena, and I want it to work… but Chris.”

“I know how that feels. I’ll let you in on a secret… the guy I’ve been seeing recently isn’t James.” Well that was news. They had all assumed it was James, and Brody hadn’t denied that overtly. Thinking back over the words Brody had used she’d never confirmed it was him either. “I know I’ve been letting you all think that it is, but it’s not.”

“Who is it then?” Percy couldn’t help but ask. Brody was very deliberate though and if she hadn’t said anything yet she wasn’t going to slip up and tell her now. Clearly the other woman didn’t want people to know, and that was a sign that probably nobody would know until she was ready to tell.

“I’m not ready for everyone to know yet, when I am you’ll be the first one to know.” That was exactly what she’d thought, though it still made Percy concerned, given recent history. Russo had really messed with Brody’s head, and Percy would probably advised her to stay single really. “I’m just worried about how I’m going to be with James around.” 

“If he loves you like you say he does, he should be able to respect your boundary.” Brody had spoken at length about the relationship she and James shared, and it was clear from the way she spoke about him that she adored him, and Percy remembered meeting him a year earlier, and it had been obvious then that he’d been crazy about her too. Why they didn’t work Percy would probably never understand.

“He normally does, it’s me that crosses the line.” That was not a comment that Percy had expected, somehow. Maybe that showed exactly how well Brody was able to project her professionalism. “But I’m much more serious now than about the guy I was seeing last time James came to town. A lot more serious. Committed, even.” 

Brody was not the commitment type. Percy knew that she’d been engaged to James, but she also knew that they’d been engaged for years and hadn’t really done anything about it. So hearing any form of commitment was huge. “Wait, what?” That was all Percy could think to say for a second. “Committed? So it’s serious with… whoever this is.”

“Yeah, it’s serious. So to bring it back to your situation, while I know I love James and still find him sexy as hell… I have made a commitment and that matters more.” OK, Maybe Brody really did understand this situation more than Percy had given her credit for. “It seems like you’re pretty serious with Deena, so maybe you need to focus on what you have, not what you don’t.” That was a good point, she had Deena, and she could easily see herself being in love there. Maybe not immediately, but in time. 

“That actually helped, thanks Merri.” She was going to focus on her actual relationship rather than whatever it was with LaSalle. Neither of them deserved to be strung along, and she would make that point when she needed to there was a lot they both needed to get over.

“Any time.” Brody responded and laughed. It felt nice to know that her friend would genuinely always be there when she was needed, and Meredith Brody had some of the best relationship advice in the world. If she had an advice column it would have been popular.

“No hints about this guy, huh?” Percy pressed, really just wanting Brody to give some sort of hint. She really wanted to know about him, and at this point so few hints had been given that she couldn’t even fathom a guess. Though she had to admit now, maybe LaSalle’s theory had more credence than she’d previously thought.

“None at all.” Brody laughed, and the shrug that accompanied it made Percy laugh too. It was hilarious in a way given the conversation they’d just had. she could respect Brody’s desire for some privacy in this situation though, and really she couldn’t even blame her.

“He’s fine with King living with you?” Percy wasn’t sure how she’d feel if Deena’s boss moved in with her. Then Percy remembered after a second that Pride was Deena’s boss as well. That would have made life even more difficult.

“He thought it was a bit weird at first, but yeah. He’s alright with it now, sees the logic to it too.” Brody had something behind her words there, but what they were Percy didn’t know. Maybe eventually she’d find out, but she didn’t know when. 

“I’m just glad you’re happy, B.” Percy smiled softly. Her friend being happy was the most important thing to her, and it seemed like Brody was actually happy for probably the first time anyone in New Orleans had known.

“For the first time in a long time, I really am.” At the smile on Brody’s face, Percy made a mental note to thank whoever it was who had made her this happy when they knew he was. She really deserved to be happy, and the fact this was all that she had needed was obvious. Percy hoped that maybe one day Deena would make her smile like that, that was love. She just wasn’t sure right now.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it's August 24th as I post that, I'll add a little note. Fictional RIP to Emily Brody, but more importantly, RIP to my friend Spo. I can't believe it's been 9 years. I miss you deeply and every day wish I could see you again. I hope you and Rhi are rocking it up there.

A surprise phone call a few days earlier had Brody at the airport and taking an extra day off, and she wasn’t really sure how all this was going to go down. She knew that she and James had a very open and honest relationship, and that he wouldn’t make an issue out of the fact that she was off the market now. On top of that, she really needed some advice. The kind of advice James had always been good at giving while never being judgemental. Waiting in the arrivals lounge she smiled when she saw the familiar face, and smiled even wider when he wrapped his arms around her. “God am I glad you’re here.”

“Your mum said I needed to come visit when you weren’t taking my calls again.” James replied to that, pulling back after a moment and kissing her forehead. It was familiar and comforting, and absolutely what she needed then and there. She had felt so out of place over the last several months, and though she was getting used to all the new dynamics, she had craved familiarity.

“It was accidental this time, I swear. It’s been a crazy few weeks and my voicemail sucks.” Her voicemail hadn’t informed her of three messages, and she’d only listened to them and returned James’ call after her mother had mentioned that he’d called.

“I heard some of it from your mum. She said you had some big news for me.” Of course Olivia had had to mention something. She wouldn’t have been her without that consistent meddling streak. At least she wasn’t trying to break them up this time.

“I do I… well I got married.” She held her hand up and wiggled her finger. Since she had taken the day off she was wearing it, as it only went on the chain around her neck when she was working. The rest of the time it stayed on her finger, and she really wanted to be able to leave it there all the time. Over the last two weeks they’d quickly gotten used to married life, and now she was just impatient to be honest about them.

“Wait, really? Not to Wilkins?” There was a note of panic in James’ voice at that. That had never really been a possibility, not even when she was dating him. Her heart had wanted James the moment he’d turned up, and poor Sam had never stood a chance against that.

“No, no. You pretty much ended things with Sam.” She reassured him with a smile. It was hilarious to her exactly how protective James could actually be when he wanted to be. She wasn’t sure how, exactly, it would work out when he heard about who she was married too. 

“Good, that guy wasn’t right for you.” The happiness in his tone that at least Sam wasn’t the husband was somewhat hard to hide or deny. Merri wasn’t going to push it though. James could be happy if he wanted to be. “Will I get to meet your new husband.”

“Sure, how long are you here for?” That would change how and when she’d plan to see him, and how she’d introduce him to Pride. She did want the two men to have some time together, preferably to talk and bond. James was always going to be in their lives, and that would be easier if they at least got along.

“A few days.” That was a more noncommittal answer than Brody had expected. James could be shady and hidden, no doubt about it, but even with all of that he was normally honest about how long he’d be around. “I have a story to write but I needed to see you too.”

“Good, because I need some very James advice.” James was an asshole, and he didn’t get along with many people, but that made his advice on other matters absolutely mandatory. This was one of those situations. The situations where she needed his bluntedness and honesty to convince her she wasn’t thinking about making a mistake.

Clearly, James knew what his reputation for this was like too. Given his job, James was very observant and he knew what was happening all around him, of course he’d know why Merri valued his opinion, especially on a matter that was personal to her. “Is this because I’m blunt and annoyingly honest?”

“Just the way I always liked you.” She grinned, knowing that was exactly why he was the first person she was even going to think about this with. She should have thought about bringing this up with Pride, but she knew they weren’t there yet. She needed to have a plan before that was a conversation she started. “Come on, I’ll tell you in the car.”

“You’re not pregnant are you?” James prodded, and if it had been anyone else she would have been a little insulted. However James knew her well enough to know that was pretty much a nightmare for her, even if she was married. Unless she had a plan that was never going to happen.

“God no. That is still not really in my life plan.” She had to admit, she and Pride probably played with fire more than she would care to admit. She needed to sort out some sort of birth control, though for now she was willing to continue going along with what was thrown at them. “Maybe. But not right now.”

“Come on MB, what is it?” Clearly James gave up trying to guess exactly what it was that she was struggling with, and given that Brody herself still wasn’t sure about how to phrase this that was for the best. For him to understand why she was even thinking about this he needed to know all of it, including who she’d married. As they arrived at the car she unlocked it and got in.

She waited until James had put his bag in the trunk then got in the passenger side before she just turned to him and it all started to fall out. “I married my partner, technically my boss. Nobody knows, we haven’t filed it with the agency. Even our friends don’t know. Only Loretta, her kids, my parents and King’s daughter and her boyfriend.”  

“Wait, Meredith.” James held a hand up so that she’d give him a moment to process what she was saying. He had always been aware that she was largely interested in older men, and he was clearly remembering that too. “That’s ballsy even for you. I know that just before you met me you had a fling with… what was his name again.”

“Gibbs.” She smiled a little, remembering James’ reaction to finding out that on their first date. It had been hilarious, and he hadn’t really known how to react to it. Though they’d then met just the once, Brody didn’t blame him for trying to forget the name.

“That’s him. But your current boss?” James clicked his fingers and just looked surprised again, and that made her even more convinced that this was not something she normally would have done. The one thing she’d realised over the last two weeks was that she loved Pride, but she didn’t know how to keep switching between being his agent and his wife.

“I know, I know. I don’t even remember when I fell for him. I’ve tried to ignore it for months… Then after what happened in May… He was there for me, when nobody else seemed to be.” She knew that she hadn’t really let anyone else be there for her. She’d always been pushing them away, but Pride hadn’t let her. “The problem is, I don’t know if I can keep working for him now. It’s already affecting our partnership.”

“Well, can you transfer somewhere?” That was probably the obvious question, and that was something she’d asked herself more than once. There wasn’t another NCIS office in a reasonable distance.

“There aren’t any NCIS offices nearby and I really don’t want to leave my new husband only a couple weeks after we got married.” If that was the only choice, Brody would actually have resigned and gone into private security or switched over to working for the NOPD. 

“What about the other agencies in New Orleans. I assume ATF, Homeland and FBI all have offices here?” She hadn’t really considered that, maybe because NCIS had been her home and the only career she’d wanted since she was 19. This was where all her friends were, but she couldn’t stay with her new relationship. 

“And the DEA and CGIS. I’m kinda… persona non grata at Homeland right now.” She had to admit to that. She doubted that James knew she was the agent who had been involved in all the nastiness a few weeks earlier. She knew that it was going to be a shock too.

“What the hell Meredith?” That was an explosion of sound she hadn’t expected, but she didn’t entirely blame him for that. The effects of what had happened with John Russo were probably going to have soured her relationship with Homeland Security for the rest of her life even though they’d given her a commendation.

“I killed one of their agents. I had to or I would be dead.” She really didn’t want to have to explain anymore, and she remembered why she loved having James to listen to her, because he wouldn’t push if she was hesitant. “But yeah. That wouldn’t work.”

“Oh. What about one of the others.” There was a thoughtful expression on his face, and Brody thought back too. After the  _ Moultrie _ she had made a plan for if something happened, and maybe she needed to reassess those plans. “I remember when we were together you always talked about CGIS as a back-up. Essentially the same job.”

“Yeah, and I wouldn’t have to recertify at FLETC.” That was an upside of all of that, she would be able to transfer straight over and not have to struggle with getting ready and having so much more to do to prepare.

“I’ve seen your graduation photos, that’s a good thing for all of us.” James teased, and Brody just groaned knowing that her mother must have shown them at some point. That was not something she was glad about, though Emily had made it more enjoyable for her.

“Shut up.” She grumbled but grinned as well. It was nice that he still felt like he could tease her even though she’d gotten married. That gave her more hope that they’d actually remain friends. Thinking more about what too do She knew there were others she could talk to. “Maybe I could speak to Vance and Gibbs about it.” Gibbs first, Vance when she’d made a decision.

“Gibbs? The same Gibbs as…” James asked, and he didn’t look bothered by it, but just a little confused. She at least could just smile and confirm that they were just friends too. Though Merri didn’t actually blame him for not being certain.

“Yes. He’s been in my corner my whole career, I want to talk to him before I make some huge decision.” Then she’d talk to Pride. Before long they would have to have that conversation, and she might get time to talk to Gibbs while James was with Pride. “You’re right though, J. This would solve all the problems I have right now.”

“I do have some intelligence you know?” He smirked and she couldn’t help but shake her head. Stopping for a moment as she thought of a way to reply to that that would fit their relationship.

“That’s debatable.” She couldn’t resist letting that falling from her mouth and smiled widely. She liked teasing him, and he’d kind of left it wide open to her. It was always better when he left the door open.

He covered his face chuckling loudly. She just laughed looking at the traffic and groaned before he started speaking again. “Ouch.” He laughed harder after a moment. Then he clearly realised she wasn’t happy about the traffic. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for coming and picking me up.”

“Yeah I did it because I wanted to get your opinion on this.” She excused. it wasn’t true, but it was. She was really happy to have seen him again, and gotten to tell him all of this. She was also happy that he had just taken her needing his advice in his stride. “This time while you’re in town I will not sleep with you.”

“Hey, what happened last time was… unexpected, and I didn’t mean for it to break you and the psychiatrist up.” Brody didn’t buy that, and she somehow wasn’t surprised either when it didn’t look as though James believed himself on that comment.

“That was probably for the best… but I really love King, J.” She wanted him to know that, have no doubt at all in his mind that this time there was no ambiguity to how she felt, no question in the relationship. Sam had never been someone she was serious about, so this was very different.

“I can tell, MB, I’m just happy that you’re happy.” James’ smile was genuine, and Brody reached over to squeeze his hand while laughing softly. It meant everything to her. “I mean, I would have done a damn good job, but he’ll do.” Of course James was going to act as though he was God’s gift. That was very much how he saw himself.

“Remind me to call ahead to the hotel next time and make sure they have enough room for your giant ego.” There was a light chuckle, and she didn’t really know what else to say about it.

“I will.” James smiled and his expression took a momentary serious turn. She was only watching him from the corner of her eye as she drove. “Look MB, I love you, I will always love you. But I want you to be happy. If this guy hurts you though I will have to kill him.” 

“Thanks for always having my back J.” She said as she took that in. Her journalist ex threatening to kill her federal agent husband was funnier than she cared to admit, and she definitely wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Whenever you need me, MB.” James smiled, and Brody was just glad that her best friend was here. She knew that, even if he never mentioned it, James had always thought that they were meant to be together. Brody was not that naive, but it had seemed that way for a while. All she could say now was that she was genuinely happy that he was pleased for her, and that he had stepped aside without any fuss. He’d always been a good guy, and this was just the proof. In a way, she couldn’t wait to introduce him to Pride.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes my inspiration went MIA again, but it's back.

Pride was used to being left in the car for this, on the occasions he actually drove Brody and Sebastian out here. At least today he had company, even if it was a little awkward at first. Given that he and James Lathom had only ever seen each other at a distance before. Brody had been speaking to them about it though, and she really wanted them to meet, and to get along. They were sat in a comfortable silence, until James nodded to the building and spoke. “You ever been in one of those with her?”

“An abandoned building? No. I support her doing it because it’s clear that she loves it, but I really don’t have a burning desire to go in with her.” He knew that this was Brody’s way of relaxing when she wasn’t working. If she wasn’t out on an explore with Sebastian they would be trying to find somewhere to go. The western did make Pride wonder about James’ thoughts on this hobby of Brody’s. “Did you?”

“I got her into it. I had an assignment that involved surveying ruins in the UK when we first got together. So happened to be that she wanted to come along with me and loved it.” So, this whole hobby was because of James, and somehow Pride wasn’t entirely surprised about that. A lot of Brody’s behaviours could be traced back to her relationship with her ex fiance. “Been an urban explorer ever since, both of us.”

“Not interested in this place?” Pride wondered. If James was an Explorer like Brody, wouldn’t he want to be the one in there? Maybe he was just putting his own expectations on it. Which maybe wasn’t as surprising as people would have thought, especially given that James’ home base was likely in the UK.

“Nah, I explored it 18 months ago.” The smile on James’ face made Pride think that he was also enjoying the opportunity to get to know Brody’s new husband. Not that Pride often thought of himself that way. He had been thinking too much about “Besides, US buildings are, on the whole, in better shape than UK ones, any changes here I’ll see in Merri’s pictures.” That was a surprise too. She took pictures of these places?

“She takes pictures? I guess that’s what’s in the backpack.” He’d never really actually thought about what Merri might actually take with her on an explore, though he’d mostly thought that it was for and drink, as it seemed like the kind of thing that would require both. 

“King, your wife is an urban exploring legend.” The level of excitement that crossed James’ face when he turned to explain that made Pride think wonder if that was an understatement. He was beginning to think a lot of Brody’s world he hadn’t entirely been introduced too was understatement. “She’s one of the most followed urbex in the world. Admittedly… We’re probably one of the very few who know that.”

“What?” Pride was confused. She was famous, a legend, in that community yet nobody knew. That didn’t seem to match up in Pride’s mind, and he thought that maybe he was being slow, or it really was that James wasn’t making any sense. “I don’t understand.”

“She keeps her identity a secret, in general.” That suddenly made a lot more sense. Brody wouldn’t want to compromise her position by the fact that she was technically breaking the law about a lot of these things. “Given that she’s law enforcement she thinks it would be seen as a conflict of interest for her to be doing this.” That would also make sense. Especially if she used her badge for safety on occasion.

“I take it she uses her position from time to time?” He had to get confirmation on that, and it seemed like James was the one who had the knowledge. This was Brody’s biggest hobby, maybe Pride needed to try taking more of an interest in it, because it seemed like it was a bigger deal to her than he’d initially believed. 

“No, she just finds that knowing the local police prevents her from being arrested.” OK, that made even more sense. Her badge would require paperwork, just being let go wouldn’t. “Has she never shown you her photos? She’s amazing, maybe it’s because of her job but she gets such stark photos.” 

Pride thought about that and wondered why Brody had never offered to show him. Then again, with his level of disinterest maybe she’d just thought that he wouldn’t be interested. “I’ll have to ask her about them. I knew she did this but I never really knew what it involved.” He really hadn’t, and every word out of James’ mouth was actually making him more curious about it all.

“What do you do if you bring her out to explores?” James asked, and sometimes that was a very good question since Pride didn’t even know what he tended to do. he was nearly always just the ride, and had been since long before he and Brody were involved in any way.

“Catch up on paperwork, or sleep. Since she tends to have Sebastian with her.” If she was on her own he tended to use an old set of walkie talkies and they kept in constant touch, but when she was with Sebastian he was a little more confident about them being safe. 

“He’s an odd guy, isn’t he? Can see why he and Merri get along though.” Pride couldn’t disagree with James’ assessment of Sebastian, but he did wonder how he knew that Merri would have that friendship. “She always liked to befriend the people who were normally ignored.”

“Do you think she’s changed, since she came to New Orleans?” That had been a question that had been bothering him since her mother had visited almost a year ago. She’d said something that made it sound as though she didn’t appreciate the change in Brody, but Pride hadn’t noticed one, and it did bother him.

“Definitely, but that’s not a bad thing.” James seemed completely confident about that, and that actually made Pride feel better about things. Parents never liked it when their children changed. He knew that from Laurel, and he could understand Olivia too. “It isn’t the city that’s changed her, King. It’s you. You have helped her see the better side of herself. You’ve shown her that she doesn’t always have to do it alone.” There was something in James’ face that told Pride far more about how the other man felt than he would have expected. 

“You still love her, huh?” He asked, making sure that he didn’t sound angry or jealous, as he was neither. He trusted Brody, and he knew that if James was sat here with him there was nothing going to stop them this time. But he could also understand how James still loved his ex-fiance, because Pride wasn’t sure he could ever stop loving Brody.

“Always will.” James nodded then turned and looked to Pride seriously. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna make anything hard for you, that’s not my style.” Given the last time he’s been in New Orleans, Pride wasn’t sure he bought that, but he’d take James on face value for now. “Besides, however much we love each other… MB and I weren’t good for each other. not really. You’re more suited to who she is. I was always more suited to an idea. Just as she was for me. The reality was more complex.”

“That seems to be how relationships go, huh?” James could have been describing the latter years of his marriage. He and Linda had always loved each other, but they’d not really been in a position where they actually liked each other. That was generally necessary for any kind of successful relationship.

“Definitely. Just know that if you let her down I know the press corps of every major city in the world, and you’d be amazed how easily journalists can fuck things up.” James’ smile was light, but Pride actually totally believed that if James put his mind to it he would be more successful than the militia had been in ruining his life.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He decided to play innocent with it and not give too much away. While Pride was sure the threat was largely a joke, he was going to take it serious because Brody did need someone in her corner who would fight for her if he couldn’t, and James was sort of perfect for that.

“From what I’ve seen, I have no reason to worry.” That was a huge vote of confidence, and yet another thing that told him that he and Brody had made the right choice when they decided to go right ahead and get married. “You know, we were together for years, a lot of them, and I never made her as happy as she is right now.”

Pride blinked a couple of time at that and turned to James pushing himself up in the driver’s seat a little higher. Given how Brody spoke about most of her relationship, Pride had been willing to bet they were the couple who had always been happy, so this was a surprise to him. “You think that?”

“I know that. Look you’re always gonna have to deal with me, I’m Merri’s best friend outside of the job, and I love her. But you’re a good guy, and she’s mad about you. The fact you got her down that aisle tells me that.” James admitting that he was always going to be around, was a very pointed reminder, and Pride didn’t mind that again either. “She may not say it, but she’s nuts about you.”

“The feeling is very mutual.” He smiled, because he was head over heels for Meredith Brody, and he was pretty certain that was never going to change. He didn’t like saying never normally, but this was one of the appropriate points in which to use it. “You know she still needs you too. You’re right you are her best friend, and I don’t think she’d know what to do without you.” He knew that Brody wouldn’t be herself without James, and that meant Pride was happy to have him around.

“She’s stuck with me too, trust me on that one.” James grinned, and Pride was happy to know that he was planning on sticking around. Especially since there was no way that Pride could find him without Brody’s help if they needed to kick his ass.

“Than I’d say we’re even.” He agreed and then looked up, just as Brody and Sebastian came out of the door. Even for some of the shorter explores that seemed to have passed quickly. Had he and James really been talking so long. “Oh look, here they come.”

“That was fast, wonder if there was security.” James muttered as they approached the car. They both turned a little, looking as Brody and Sebastian slid into their seats, neither looking all that impressed with what they’d done. “You’re out quick.” James was braver for asking than Pride normally was.

Brody looked like she was about to throw a tantrum, and Pride was a little worried about that. “Looks like the 113’s have taken it over. Wasn’t safe to stay. Remind me to put an alert out when we get back.” He turned further and gave her a look that he hoped conveyed that that wasn’t safe. The gangs of New Orleans wouldn’t even hesitate to make an example of a federal agent. “They didn’t see us, doubt I’d have made it out if they did.”

“Glad you’re out of there then. Let’s head back to the bar.” That seemed like the best place to go. Pride remembered Brody going through and photographing all the rooms in his bar before he’d started the renovations, and he wondered if she still had them. He’d like to see what she’d found. “You got somewhere you need to be Sebastian?” It seemed polite, at the very least, to ask if their friend had something else that he needed to do.

“No, not today.” Sebastian smiled, and he actually looked a little happy that he was being included in plans as a group. Maybe James’ observation about Brody and Sebastian was more on the nose than he’d thought that it was. Normally he was just used to Sebastian being their little nerd, but clearly he wanted more than that and Pride made a mental note to remember that.

“Let’s all head back then.” He ordered with a smirk, glad when he heard the almost simultaneous sound of seat belts going on. he was glad they were all being safe, especially since when on assignments agents didn’t tend to wear them, so he and Brody often completely forgot.

“You two get on OK?” Brody asked suddenly once Pride had started driving, and he just glanced to James who had the same mischievous grin on his face. Sebastian still didn’t know that Brody and Pride were married, so hopefully James could help them carry that on.

“Yeah, I think we understand each other more now.” James smiled and squeezed Brody’s hand gently. Pride was glad they’d had this opportunity, and it had given him more insight into the woman his wife had been before she’d come into his life. That was one of the best things for him to learn, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life learning all about her. About everything that mattered to her and made her who she was.


	23. Chapter 23

It had been almost a month since he’d been shot, and he was beginning to go stir crazy. Even the regular visits from King and the others hadn’t kept him entertained to this point, it was why he’d gotten the dispensation from the docs to go back to work this week, even if it was only desk duty. He just wanted to be out of his house back around his friends. He was still sat being miserable and lonely when there was a knock at the door. He used the crutches to lever himself up and hobbled over to the door, opening it and smiling as he saw who was there. “Hey, I thought I’d come by and check on you.”

“Someone I can gossip with, come on in.” He moved back a little to let Percy into his apartment, thinking about how she’d been the only one not to have visited him so far. Given how awkward the day he’d been shot had been maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised. They had shared a kiss, and he thought it meant something. Given that she hadn’t spoken to him since he guess he was wrong, so he’d started trying to move on again.

“Are you supposed to be up and about?” Percy asked, and there was a definite note of concern in her voice. LaSalle couldn’t help but be a little happy about that, and he was probably always going to be glad when she let on that she did care about him even if it was only a little bit.

“Probably not, but I’m bored.” He was going to be honest about that because being out injured was always a boring experience. Percy had been the same a little over a year earlier after she had been shot by Baitfish on their case. She’d been right back into it. “Going back to desk duty on Monday.”

“Chris.” She scolded, and he just held his hands up. He knew that one of them would have treated him like a child for rushing back, in truth he’d thought that it would be Brody though, since her experience with Russo she had become the ‘mom friend’ to them all, which combining with Pride’s ‘dad friend’ made it feel like he and Percy were the naughty children.

“King said I could, so did my doctors. It’s been nearly a month, Sonja.” He wanted to press that point. It had been a month, he could put all his weight on the leg, and he could generally walk without the crutches. He just used them because he didn’t want to do more damage and be out even longer.

“I know. You missed Merri and King dealing with her ex being in town.” That was a clear change of conversation on Percy’s part, and LaSalle was actually thankful for it. He just wasn’t really all that ready to deal with the true after-effects of his shooting, and thinking about Brody and Pride was a lot easier. “I’m starting to think your theory is right.”

“The one about them being a couple?” LaSalle had a lot of theories, and he wasn’t sure why he needed to ask specifically if it was that one. Maybe because he was the only one who actually thought they were, though everyone admitted that they’d be great together. Sure Pride was their boss so there were rules that mattered, but they could get around them. 

“Yeah. James was here and he was hanging around…” That made it sound more like Brody was just back with her ex, and really that wouldn’t surprise him either. He knew that she had remained in love with James long after they broke up, and he could see them back together. In some ways he saw that more than his pet theory, but given everything over the last 3 and a half months, it made more sense that she was with their boss. “Merri had already said she wasn’t with James again, and that was evidenced… but nobody else came around at all.”

That sounded like gossip he should have been on the front line of, he shouldn’t be hearing it second hand from Percy, days after it had all gone down. He cursed the man who had shot him again, angry that he’d missed prime gossip. “Damn I can’t believe I missed all this.” That turned his attention to a far more pressing question in his mind. “Think they are going to admit it?”

“No. They aren’t likely to admit it until they have to.” Percy shook her head, and LaSalle briefly wondered if she maybe knew more than she was letting on. If she was he was going to get mad at her for holding out on him when he kind of desperately needed gossip, especially about their friends. “I mean, I’m still not convinced, but it’s more possible.”

“Sonja.” He said quietly, thinking that it was time he told her that he was working on moving on from her. That included telling her that he’d had a date, even if the date hadn’t been as successful as he’d hoped. He’d reconnected with an old friend at the very least which was something.

“What?” Percy clearly noticed that something had changed, and that made LaSalle think it would be easier to tell her that this was what he needed to do. It really was too, he couldn’t wait patiently around forever. Percy was the first person he’d been even partially interested in having a relationship with since Savannah died, but since it was clear she wasn’t feeling the same he knew he was doing the right thing for him.

“I had a date last night.” It fell out of his mouth in probably the least graceful way he’d ever revealed anything in his life. He was trained in giving people bad news and he was very good at that, yet he couldn’t transfer it to telling his partner that he was working on putting her in his past.

“Oh.” Her face fell, and she immediately looked crestfallen. He didn’t really know what to say in response to it. Had she really expected him to just sit there waiting around for her to get her act together, or was he meant to have been single forever unless it was with her. He wasn’t going to play that game.

“I just wanted you to hear that from me, rather than from anyone else.” LaSalle was going to be honest about that, and he was sure that Sebastian or Patton would have let it slip before long, as they were both friends with Addie too, and would have no doubt seen her since she’d come back to town.

“Who?” It was a reasonable question. LaSalle was fairly sure that Percy hadn’t met Addie Watkins before. She had been transferred not long into the new year 2015, and it had been almost 18-months since he’d seen her. It had been nice to catch up, and to see if the spark they’d always had was still there.

“Her name is Adele, well, Addie.” He trailed off at that, wondering if Percy would remembered Brody talking about her. Addie and Brody had gotten close relatively quickly, and from everything he knew they’d actually kept in contact while Addie had been in Georgia. “She used to be the SECO officer at Belle Chasse but she got a promotion, she was back in town.”

“The one Merri has a picture of from Christmas? You and her and King and this other woman?” How had he forgotten about that picture, it was on Brody’s desk, so of course Percy would have seen that, and no doubt she would have asked Brody for the story of the picture. LaSalle wouldn’t even say he could remember it clearly, but he knew what had happened, and he knew that that was not the first time that he’d seen Brody and Pride acting like a couple.

But he focused on the officer he’d had a date with, and just nodded. Knowing that Percy would just ask around if her lied. “Yeah, that’s Addie.” He nodded, waiting and wondering what her reaction would actually be, if she had one at all. He would probably have been a little more upset if she didn’t have a reaction at all.

“So… right, what do you want me to say?” Percy asked as though she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to say, and he knew that draw in her voice was her censoring herself, something he didn’t really want her to feel like she had to do. She never needed to censor herself for him, but he was mad that she couldn’t just be honest about it.

“I just wanted you to know.” He said quietly as she grabbed her back up angrily. LaSalle just stared at her then before she could storm off he stopped her by grabbing her arm. There was no way that he was going to let her make him out to be the bad guy in this situation. “You don’t get to be pissy, you’re the one who has a girlfriend.” She had ‘moved on’ first, he was just following her lead.

“You’re the one who kissed me a month ago! That’s why I never came to see you until now.” She yelled, the volume having raised almost instantly. He couldn’t help but flinch back from the shout, even though he knew that that was all it was. “We should have spoken about that given I’m the one with a girlfriend.”

“What did you want me to say, Sonja?” He was the one to ask that question this time, and right now he didn’t think he was out of line for asking it either. “That I love you? I thought that was obvious! I’ve made all the moves and I gave you time when you wanted it, but I lost out even then.” He didn’t blame her if that was what she wanted, and it would suck but he could move on, but he wanted to know for sure one way or the other. “That’s fine, if you don’t want anything then you could have just told me that rather than keep stringing me along.”

“ _ I’m _ stringing  _ you _ along!?” Percy’s reply was dripping in sarcasm, and LaSalle wasn’t sure what exactly she thought gave her the right to act as though she was the one being mistreated in this situation. He could live with being the one everyone underestimated, he could even live with being the second choice, the back-up. He couldn’t deal with her acting as though he was being unreasonable for being fed up of being mistreated.

“Yeah, you’re stringing me along.” He wondered for a moment if he was going to have to read her chapter and verse on what stringing him along actually meant, because if she didn’t see that that was what she was doing then there was possibly no hope for her. How would she ever understand it if she didn’t already see it. “You blow hot and cold and you can’t seem to decide whether you want me or not.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t know myself!” She yelled, and that was the closest she’d come to saying that she felt anything at all for him. He watched as she dropped her head into her hands and he realised that she genuinely didn’t know what she wanted, or needed. Unfortunately that wasn’t good enough. There were other people and their lives on the line, and Percy needed to decide what it was that she wanted before she ended up ruining their lives too. That was the last thing he or Deena needed, and in reality they both deserved better. It was amusing to him given that Brody was meant to be the one in their quad who was a mess, not Percy.

He was ready to make her face that choice though, because she did need to make it. “You have to make the choice, Sonja! I’m not gonna wait around for you forever while you decided if you want me or if Deena is who you really want.” He reached out and lifted her chin to make her look at him again. “Do you even know what you want?”

“No!” She yelled back at him, and he couldn’t help but pull her to him at that point. He’d give her something to help her decide, if that was what she wanted. He made sure that he didn’t hold her in place, but he leant forward and kissed her as hard as he could. After a second she moved to him and kissed him harder too. LaSalle secretly hoped that maybe this was the beginning of a change for the two of them. Maybe it was a naive hope, but he couldn’t help it. 


	24. Chapter 24

LaSalle had fallen asleep, and now Percy was certain that she could stop pretending to be asleep and could leave. Gathering up her things quietly, checking that he stayed sound off in his own little world. Percy didn’t know what had possessed her to do this, and she had no idea, none at all, what it was that had kept her here to the point where she was sneaking out like a college junior after a frat party. At least she didn’t smell of beer like she almost always had done back then. Right now she was pretty sure she smelled like bitterness and regret, if bitterness and regret had smells.

All she knew was she needed to get out of there, and then she needed to talk to someone. There was only one person who knew all the details of the situation, and of course, she had to have their boss living with her. A quick look at the clock showed her it was after 2 in the morning. Pride was likely to be asleep, Brody, on the other hand, was almost guaranteed to be awake. Sure enough when she pulled up outside Brody’s place 20 minutes later there was a light on in the lounge and a tall and slim person’s shadow cast on the curtains. Jumping out of the care she ran up and rapped on the door gently with her knuckles, smiling a second later as Brody’s face came around the curtain. “Sonja?”

“Is King here?” She had to ask. There was always the chance he’d been out late and had stayed at the bar or gone back to the office. it was probably a long shot, since he hadn’t been seeming to have as many late nights since moving out here, but still for a moment she held on to that hope. 

“I think he’s asleep, what’s wrong?” Brody’s face showed an interesting combination of fear, worry and annoyance that seemed to only ever fit her features. One of the things that Percy would say about Brody was that she had one of the most expressive faces she’d ever come across. But that meant that in this situation it was easy to tell how she felt.

“I need to talk, can I come in?” Maybe Percy was pushing her luck, but she wanted to talk and she hoped that Brody’s ability to be a great friend would come forward here. It would mean Brody would let her in and maybe, just maybe, Percy would be able to start figuring out some of how she felt about all this.

It seemed like Brody considered the question for an eon before nodding and stepping back, allowing Percy through the door. “Sure, want some tea?” Brody always offered tea when someone came in, not coffee like she would have expected. Percy wondered, for a second, if that was another habit she’d picked up off of the British former fiance. There were a few quirks Brody seemed to have learnt from him.

“When did you and Pride become like an old married couple?” Percy asked, looking around the living room and realising that it was actually a blending of Brody and Pride’s styles. There were records and books dotted on almost every surface, both managing to look like they’d been put down and abandoned rather than anything else. “Sure, tea would be good.”

“You realise it’s 3am, right?” Brody asked, bringing the tea through from the kitchen and settling both mugs on the coffee table. “In polite terms, that’s too damn early for you to be knocking on a door.” She looked a little annoyed again, but Percy hoped that she’d be able to diffuse it before it became more pronounced.

“You’re not gonna bullshit me and say you were asleep are you?” Percy chuckled a little as though the thought was ridiculous, hoping that Brody would understand that it was all teasing. Sometimes, she knew, it wasn’t easy to tell, especially at this time in a morning, but Percy knew better than to push too far.

“No, I slept earlier, King makes me go to bed at the same time as him but I rarely stay there. I tend to get up and come down here.” Merri then sat on the sofa and pulled her legs up below her. For a second Percy again marvelled at just how different Brody was at home to in the office, probably more so than the rest of them. “So I was up, now you can tell me what’s bothering you?”

“I…” Percy trailed off, wondering how she could phrase this to cause the least shock. there probably ain’t actually a good way to phrase it, given everything that had gone on and the whole situation they were in at the moment. So maybe it would be best if she just said it. “I slept with Chris.”

“You did what!?” Yelped Brody loudly. Percy jumped about a mile high at the sudden explosion of shocked noise from her normally eternally composed friend. Very little rattled Brody, so the fact that she’d managed to get that reaction told her that sleeping with LaSalle had been a bad idea, a very bad idea.

Even as Merri clamped her hands over her mouth Percy had her finger on her lips. “Merri!” Percy cautioned before Brody could continue at her previous volume. While three words weren’t likely to wake Pride up, there was no guarantee that more wouldn’t. Percy just really wasn’t in the mood to explain to him why this wasn’t going to affect their work.

“Sorry!” She replied a little quieter, and Percy just nodded as Brody clearly took a moment to compose herself before continuing with the questions and everything else that they were going to have to do. “How did that even…?” Brody asked, and really it was actually a fair question. How had this happened, Percy herself was still fuzzy on the details.

“I went over there yesterday evening, to check up on him like… I’ve avoided the man for a month.” OK so, she wasn’t exactly proud of the fact that she’d been avoiding him, but after the kiss when he’d been shot she just hadn't known if she could face him, or even if she should face him.

“And…?” Brody prompted, clearly desperate for more details. While Percy wanted to try and give them, she didn’t have that many. So she went about it like she would evidence, or the story being told to her by a crime scene, from the beginning through every moment to her appearing on Brody’s doorstep. Though she felt like Brody would interrupt her before she got toward the end. 

“He told me he went on a date with Addie yesterday.” She actually couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice, which pissed her off more than she cared to admit to herself. Percy had thought that she wasn’t going to be jealous, she didn’t have a right to be jealous, yet she was.

“As in Adele Watkins the SECO, Addie?” It was clear that Brody did not expect that, and really Percy wasn’t all that sure why. From all that she’d gathered when Addie had been brought up in conversation, it had always been clear that she and LaSalle were close and had been since even before Merri was on the team. She wasn’t going to go into that though.

“Yeah. That Addie.” She confirmed and shook her head a little. Why was she so jealous, she didn’t want LaSalle. Did she? Why was this all so confused all of a sudden. She was with Deena, and she was coming to love her girlfriend, but there was something about LaSalle that she couldn’t put her finger on, and it had been there since they first met. Since before the mermaid had been killed and she’d come out from her cover.

Brody clearly noticed there was something going on in Percy’s mind, as she didn’t try to push. “Oh, right.” Brody’s face told another story, one that said maybe there was more to it than Percy knew. Or at least, that Brody had an idea exactly what was going on in Percy’s mind, and that terrified her a little.

“So we ended up fighting about moving on and…” Percy trailed off, not entirely sure how to actually finish the story without giving away how unsure she was. But wasn’t that part of why she’d come to speak to Brody. She’d wanted to be able to talk about how uncertain and confused she was.

“Come on?” Brody prompted after a few seconds, but not in the way she would have if she was a suspect or even someone who needed to be pushed. Clearly Brody knew that Percy just needed to know that there was going to be no judgment for what she was going to be saying. 

“I admitted that I don’t really know what I want.” Percy admitted a minute or so later, and for a second she was embarrassed. Then she remembered that she was speaking to Meredith Brody. That woman was possibly one of the least decisive people Percy had ever met, which made it a lot easier to admit the rest of her thought. “I never know what I want, it’s a problem.”

“So you fucked him.” How the hell did Brody do that? How did her brain make the leap from Percy admitting that she didn’t know what she wanted to the fact they’d slept together. Maybe what bothered Percy more was that Brody was right. They’d had sex and now she was even more confused than she had been before.

“He kissed me and I think I went temporarily insane. I can’t even explain it.” Percy wasn’t sure if the emotion she was feeling right now was embarrassment, regret or self-hatred, but none of them were out of the realm of possibility. She was trying to work out which, but did it really matter when they were all going to lead in the same direction. 

“I know how that goes.” Brody said sympathetically, clearly actually genuinely understanding how Percy was feeling. From what she had been told about the first time the ex fiance had shown up in New Orleans, Brody had actually had to face this decision more recently than she’d care to admit. “Has it helped you decide?” That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it, and the answer was a resounding no.

“No, it’s sort of… made it all more complicated.” She thought again to Deena, who really didn’t deserve a girlfriend who was going to possibly cheat on her whenever she got confused about how she felt for her partner, but Percy couldn’t guarantee that it wasn’t going to happen again.

“OK, Explain.” Brody crossed her legs but otherwise was totally open for this conversation, and giving the time of night Percy had never been more thankful that she had managed to make a close friend who was a clinical insomniac. It meant that Percy could depend on her for opinions at any time.

Thinking about her girlfriend, Percy couldn’t help but smile widely and laugh a little, just wanting to make her happy. “I’m falling for Deena, she’s good for me, a great counterbalance to our job because she’s just light and happy. She’s comfortable and when I get home and she’s there she lights up my whole day.” 

“But…?” Brody poked as soon as she stopped talking, and Percy knew this move from when they’d been in interrogation together. It wasn’t the easiest of questions to think about. However, maybe answering would at least help her see why she wanted them both. They were both good for her, and they were both lovely people who she cared a great deal about.

“Chris… he’s one of my best friends, and he just gets me.” All the way back to the Baitfish case until now. LaSalle had just understood what she was thinking. “He knows when the job has broken me down and he understands the pressure. More than that we share things in common outside of work, and we have a few mutual friends.”

“So it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other?” It was a statement and a question, but at least Brody understood. That made everything a lot easier. Percy wouldn’t have to explain why they both mattered so much if Brody could put herself in her position and give information based on that.

“I assume you’ve been in this situation, how did you choose?” Relationships were what everyone went to Brody for about. Especially more dysfunctional relationships. She had more than her fair share of horror stories, but maybe one day she would settle down. Maybe with this mystery man that seemed to be making her so happy.

“I can honestly say I haven’t been in that situation. With James it was straight up polyamory, it was a conscious and consensual agreement to maintain multiple relationships and it worked for me and him, and the few partners I had in that time.” Percy couldn’t really imagine that, but she also knew that’s because she’d never tried it and never really thought about it.

“That psychiatrist?” Percy again thought of the stories about the ex-fiance. All of them from LaSalle though, so she took them with a pinch of salt. he was known to be fond of hyperbole, especially if he could wind Merri up with it. It seemed like that was his primary goal. He wanted to try and make Brody’s head explode.

“Him it did not work for.” Brody burst out laughing, and Percy was glad that her question hadn’t brought up bad memories, as that would be the least entertaining and helpful thing she could have done tonight. “Otherwise, I’ve never had two people interested in me at once. I’m not that likeable.” Percy wasn’t going to touch that one with a pole, mostly because she knew that Brody actually believed that, despite being one of the most beautiful and lovely people Percy herself had ever met.

“So you have no advice?” Percy couldn’t help the hint of disappointment in her voice, since she knew that it would be far more difficult to find someone else who might be able to understand. On top of that, nobody else knew the situation the way that Brody did. 

“I have plenty of advice, I’m just not sure you’d like it.” That was an interesting way of phrasing it, and Percy tilted her head a little. Brody wasn’t normally one for mincing her words or holding back from giving advice and opinions. So if she was holding back she really wasn’t sure about Percy reaction.

“Try me.” She almost ordered, before mentally telling herself that while Pride and the rest of the team weren’t really sticklers for protocol… She needed to remember that she was still the baby agent. Percy was actually a little surprised that Brody was still a junior agent, thought that may well be more out of choice. her advice was always sought, even if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“Follow your heart. I got some sage advice once, and I’ll pass it on to you. The heart wants what it wants, you can’t change that.” Percy nodded a little, wondering what that had been about. It didn’t really matter though, because it was right. “Deena amazing, we all love her, but if your heart isn’t set on her, don’t string her along.” Of course that was something that Brody told her off about. “She deserves better than that.”

“What if that’s the wrong choice?” She asked honestly, and that was the biggest fear of all. What if she picked wrong. What if she lost something amazing because she went the other way. She wasn’t sure she was ready to deal with that fallout. She couldn’t lose Chris, and she didn’t want to lose Deena.

“There is no wrong choice. What’s meant to be is what happens.” That pronouncement was delivered with a quiet tone, but the usual wisdom Brody displayed. “With Russo… After that… I thought my life was going to be over, but it wasn’t. Now my life is better than it was 4 months ago, and I couldn’t be happier.” 

“You’re saying… I just have to go with it, whichever decision I make?” She needed the clarification and, in some ways, needed to not be thinking about this. She was still over thinking it all, but now she was certain that overthinking wasn’t necessarily the worst idea that she’d ever had.

“Don’t rush it either. Take your time. Be sure. But follow your heart, it will work out in the end.” Brody squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “Sleep here, I’ll get you a blanket, and I’ll leave a note upstairs for King that you’re here.” Percy just nodded, by now too exhausted to argue about staying here. Maybe her mind would be better at making a decision if she stayed away for a while.


	25. Chapter 25

Brody was not really ready to be making this phone call, or the request that would come in it, but she knew that it was the right thing for her to do. She knew that she and Pride couldn’t continue having it all, it wasn’t professional and it was already beginning to cause conflicts within her. She didn’t want that, and more than that, she didn’t want him to do it either. She didn’t want either of them putting a civilian in danger to save one another. Tapping in the number she’d memorised years earlier she waited and progressively got more and more nervous. “Gibbs.” 

“Hey, it’s me. I need some advice.” She started, deciding not to immediately go into the word vomit of explanation that was already rushing through her mind. That was the harder part of all of this, as for the first time she remembered she was actually nervous about asking for a favour.

“Brody?” Brody wasn’t sure if the tone was checking it was her or telling her to calm down, but no matter the intention, she stopped and took a deep breath, wondering how it was that Pride, Gibbs and James all knew something was bothering her just from the way she spoke on the phone. “What advice?”

“Can I talk to you as a friend, rather than an agent?” It was an important question, and one that would depend on how much information she gave. Not that she thought for a moment that Gibbs would tell anyone if she didn’t say that he could. He would think of this as being her business, nobody else’s. Especially since she was already working to remedy the situation.

“Of course, what’s going wrong?” That was definitely an apt question for her. The last few times she’d called him it had been for him to come and help her when she was in trouble. That wasn’t what was happening here, in a way, actually, she was calling him for a really good reason. Something they could all be happy about, just not right then.

“Nothing’s wrong, per se.” She started, playing it cagy. She just didn’t know exactly how to phrase it. Why was it harder telling him than it had been telling James. She’d been engaged to James, she and Gibbs had had little more than a fling. But Pride was one of Gibbs’ oldest friends, maybe that was where the problems were coming from.

“Meredith.” He prodded, and she took a deep breath. This was going to be an interesting conversation and she wasn’t really sure that this was the way to do it, maybe she should have taken leave and gone to visit her parents and seen him in person to explain this.

“I got married.” She blurted out, starting the story slowly and wondering if she should explain how it had happened. How he’d found her in Florida, how he’d held her after the review, how he’d been in the accident and proposed. Instead she thought that was a story that could wait, and he just needed to know why she had to consider anything. “To Pride.”

“You married... You two know that…” The unspoken words were enough for her to know he was trying to remind her that technically they couldn’t be together, especially not married. There were a lot of issues with that in their profession, and she already knew she would have been transferred if the director knew. 

“That’s why I’m calling you. I’m considering transferring.” Now that she’d dropped the bombshell that she was married she was already finding it easy to say what she needed and wanted. That wasn’t normally something she struggled with so she was glad that now she was back. 

At that moment there was some rustling, and Brody heard the telltale sound of him moving away from his desk. “Hold on a minute.” He eventually said and Brody rolled her eyes knowing that there was no point saying anything more until he was wherever he was heading. “Where would you transfer to?”

“Did you just announce in the Bullpen that I got married.” It wasn’t really a question, as she knew he had. That meant that depending on who was there it would be everywhere by the end of the day, and she just didn’t want to have to make a story up about it.

“At least I didn’t say who too. I’m assuming since I hadn’t heard anything about it that you’ve kept it secret?” They both knew that given the grapevine in NCIS, if anything was public knowledge everyone knew about it within the agency knew before long. “Bishop and McGee weren’t in, you should be clear.” That was a relief, at least she didn’t have to send threatening emails then and there.

“Yeah, we didn’t want to let it interfere but I feel like it’s going to interfere by definition of what it is.” She started, and this was where she felt the word vomit coming again. Brody wanted to try and work out exactly how to say what she meant, but she wasn’t sure how to do that.

“What do you mean?” She was prompted, and she realised she’d been silent for a few minutes. It was easier to think about this, as she understood what she meant without explaining. However for Gibbs to understand she needed to find the words. Hoping that just saying if in the most simple way she could would be explanation enough.

“He’s my husband, Jethro. I don’t look at him as just my boss or my partner any more.” When she’d first come here that had been all he was, he’d quickly become a friend and confidante, now she didn’t know when that had moved further, but it had started and it had led them to where they were right now. “I look at him as the man who shares my bed and who has a part of my heart. It’s a conflict.”

“You make a good point.” Clearly that was the moment that Gibbs decided he wasn’t going to argue with her and try and convince her to stay with NCIS. The truth was if they were in a bigger office she would switch to another team and there would no longer be a problem, but that wasn’t possible where they were based and she hated that in some ways. “Where are you thinking of?”

“I heard a rumour about CGIS opening a new investigative office in New Orleans. Think you could put a word in for me there?” When she was younger, CGIS had always been her second choice for a career, in reality though, if she got the job that was open there it would not only remedy the conflict of interest, it would be a promotion too.

“Sure, I’ll give Borin a call too. She’s worked with you so will vouch.” That was a good thought too, and Brody had no idea why that hadn’t occurred to her. Then again, she and Borin had never been close, they’d just worked together long enough to actually consider each other colleagues, but it was another tick in her column.

“Thanks Jethro.” She said, genuinely thankful. With two backing her up she hoped that she’d be a shoe in for the position. It would just solve all of her issues and most of her current anxieties. Mostly though, she’d be able to stay with her chosen family. The people who supported her no matter what. That was what she needed more than anything these days.

“Meredith… I heard what happened a few months ago.” The smiled that had grown on Brody’s face dropped at that reminder, and at the knowledge of what the next question was going to be. Gibbs was as persistent as Pride at asking about how she was coping with things, and she couldn’t tend to lie to either of them successfully. “You’re alright… with your thing.”

“The PTSD flairs more now, but I’m coping with it.” She wasn’t as cryptic about it as he’d been, but given that she was in her house not out in public like he was she didn’t need to worry as much about tact. “It’s still not as bad as after I got back from Iraq, you don’t need to worry.” He’d had a front row to some of the fallout for that.

“Good, but I do worry.” He said, but Brody could all but here the smirk on his face when he said that. She wasn’t entirely surprised about it either. He really didn’t need to worry though, she was much better at handling the things thrown at her. She didn’t always need someone to be beside her anymore.

“I have Dwayne for that now. But thank you.” Having that support there when she needed it had always been something that had kept her going through the darkest moments in her life. Thinking about Pride she realised that when he found out about all of this he was going to be pissed. “He’s not going to take this well.”

“If he doesn’t, have him call me. I’ll talk him through it.” She burst out laughing at that idea, knowing the kind of thing that Gibbs would probably say to him to remind him that it was actually probably something they needed to do. They couldn’t keep things going like this, and really she was certain that he would agree with that when she brought it up.

“We’re both lucky to have you. Anyway, I need to go buy the motherload of pizza rolls before work.” Why she was craving pizza rolls tonight she couldn’t answer, but it was worth giving in when it was something tasty. It was also a good way to end the conversation before she started talking about things that she wasn’t really ready to talk about.

“Call me if you need anything else.” Gibbs clearly understood her signal for ending the conversation and didn’t try to fight her on that either. She would have to treat him to dinner or something next time she was up in DC if they could get the time, just for being there for her when she needed a friend.

“I will, same to you. Oh, and say hey to Bishop for me.” Brody chuckled a little thinking to herself how Bishop would actually react to learning that she was now married. In some ways Brody wanted to be a fly on the wall when that happened, because it was going to be amusing.

“Can do.” Was the simple reply, and that actually made Brody smile more than she already had been. 

“I’ll see you soon.” She replied before hanging up the call and taking a deep breath. Now she had to go back to work and act as though nothing was happening again. Maybe part of why she was so desperate to change all this was that she really couldn’t take lying anymore. She wanted to be able to be honest about what was going on in her life.

She worked on shaking that feeling off before she set off, stopping by the store then getting in to work and secretly hoping that Pride was off being the boss somewhere so that she wouldn’t have to totally sneak them. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t really approve of them. Really, of all the agents she had the worst eating habits. As soon as she walked through LaSalle was up and teasing her. “Well look what the cat dragged in.”

“Good afternoon. Is King here?” She asked balling the bag up just on the off chance. It was bad enough that her junk food stash at home had been thrown out during one of his mad cleans of her kitchen to make it more acceptable for him to cook in. She didn’t mind so much when she had his food to eat, but sometimes she just wanted to eat something unhealthy.

“Out with Patton doing something with servers. I wasn’t really paying attention.” That actually didn’t surprise her much. LaSalle had a habit of blanking everyone out when he didn’t understand something. At least Pride wasn’t there, that meant she didn’t have to hide as much.

“Great, I can stash these and eat some before he knows.” She knew him well enough to know that she was pretty safe if she did it all before he got back. “He never looks in the freezer.” Brody reasoned, figuring that that was the appropriate storing place for her snack of choice.

“What’ve you got there?” LaSalle asked, poking the bag and jumping back as though it was going to bite him. Brody didn’t want to know what exactly had gone through his mind at that moment, but she just stared at him until his theatrical joke reaction had been played through.

“Pizza rolls.” She finally opened the bag to show him and started through to the kitchen, guessing that they didn’t have an urgent case if Pride had left LaSalle with the office and gone on a field trip with Patton. “I’ve been craving them all day and there is no way King would let me have them in the house.”

“He could probably make you them if he wanted.” LaSalle commented following her through from the squadroom, clearly deciding that he was not too busy to stop annoying her and let her eat in peace. Not that she minded, really. She mostly found it entertaining, and only occasionally a little exasperating. 

“Probably. He’s been on this whole ‘fresh food’ kick for a month and it’s driving me mad at home.” Which had been what had prompted his mass cleaning of her cupboards and the disappearance of her junk food. OK, maybe she was a little bitter about that right now.

“That’s what you get for living with the boss.” LaSalle teased further, and Brody couldn’t help but laugh and nod, giving him that. She hadn’t originally planned for any of this, and that was making everything more difficult. Not because she didn’t want it, but because she hadn’t mentally prepared herself.

“Where’s Sonja?” She was not at all opaque in her attempt to change the subject. After telling Gibbs, she was genuinely a little concerned that it would just fall out of her mouth and she’d give the game away. With LaSalle, asking about Percy was always the way to go if she wanted to redirect him.

“Taken a few days leave. Something about travelling up to visit her parents.” That seemed fair enough, and Brody wondered if she should maybe do that. Sure it had only been a few weeks since she’d seen them, but that was long enough for her to miss them right now.

“Good for her. I should do that soon.” She commented and smiled wondering if she and Pride would maybe both be able to get a weekend leave to do that. it would be nicer to go together, and to be somewhere where they didn’t have to pretend their relationship wasn’t what it was. She also wasn’t going to lie, she did wish she lived a little nearer them so she could see them more. “I miss my parents.”

“When I think back two and a half years and you never even spoke to them. This city has really helped you heal.” LaSalle smiled, pointing how much had changed since she moved here. Not that she needed to be reminded about that, she knew that so much was different and she was happy about it all, really. Maybe not about how she got there, but she was happy about where she was.

“I think it’s more the people who helped me heal. You told me that when I came here though. Remember then?” It was a while ago, and LaSalle didn’t have the memory she did, then again, neither did Pride. She enjoyed being able to remind them of innocuous things they’d said to her in the beginning. “You said that New Orleans doesn’t forget, it forgives.” 

“Tell me I was wrong.” He challenged with a wide grin on his face, clearly understanding that she was trying to say the opposite. She resisted the urge to throw something at him as she started prepping some pizza rolls to warm up so she could sit and eat them while she worked. 

“You were not wrong.” She laughed loudly and shook her head then just looked to her friend and shrugged a little. “Thanks Chris.” Watching him again for a moment she thought about how he might take her leaving too, and she felt suddenly like she needed to tell him that he was stuck with her no matter what. “Look, you know that no matter what happens… I am always going to think of you as family, right?”

“Sure.” He agreed then looked at her with a look of pure confusion. It was clear that he didn’t understand why she’d decided to clarify that, and she just shrugged a little. “What’s going on in your head, Merri?” This was the perfect opening for her to say she was considering leaving NCIS, but those words wouldn’t leave her mouth. 

“Nothing.” She ended up saying, then she thought of any sort of reason she’d have wanted to say that, and it was easier to make an excuse. “I just never told Emily enough and I guess that’s playing on my mind.” That was partially true, but it wasn’t the whole truth.

“Well, the feeling is mutual. Let’s get back to work, prove we can do it without King being here.” LaSalle grinned and headed back into the squadroom leaving her to cook her food while thinking. It was a lot easier for her to do it that way, and while she was really going to miss this place, she knew she was doing the right thing, and that was more important.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally getting ahead with writing this... so you're getting a surprise update. This one is a special reward for Galia (for not killing her dad) and for Leo (who bossed their cleaning)

He had been sat in the office just thinking all evening. It was easier to think here than in a home he now shared with someone. He’d lived in this office for almost 3 years and so he was used to being here on his own. Right now he needed that solitude, but it wasn’t going to last. “OK. What’s bothering you, Dwayne?” He looked up and saw Loretta walking in, and for a moment he wondered what had brought her here. Then realised that probably someone had told her that he wasn’t being himself.

“What do you mean?” He was playing it coy, because he didn’t want to admit that anything was bothering him. Though he knew that there was no chance that his best friend would be fooled by that. She wasn’t fooled by anything, and that meant that telling her what was bothering him may well be how he get it all out of his mind and get just a little reassurance.

“Normally by this time of evening you’re either at the bar with the team or you’re home with Merri.” Well, there was his problem. He was normally home, or at the bar, and no matter where he was he normally had Brody with him, but they’d been pretty much separate today, and she’d gone home while he’d been doing interviews at the prison. He just sighed then looked up to Loretta, who clearly had already figured out that he was bothered by something.

“Merri is where the problem is.” He admitted honestly. That was probably the hardest thing to admit. They’d been married just less than three months, and they shouldn’t be having problems like this already. He certainly hadn’t experienced this with Linda, though they had been 20 years younger than he was now.

“What happened?” Loretta moved and sat on the end of his desk, looking down at him from there while she sat. He now had to try and think about how to explain his gut feeling about what was going on right now. it was all his gut feelings, not actually anything that was going on about it.

“I just, I feel like she’s hiding something. Like maybe she’s having second thoughts.” He was genuinely not sure about how Brody was feeling about all of this. Over the weeks since they had taken the plunge she had seemed to become more and more uncomfortable with some things, thought he wasn’t exactly sure what.

“Oh?” Loretta face showed her confusion at that comment. Maybe she had a reason to be, there was no actual proof that Brody was unhappy, just his general feelings, and maybe he was being paranoid. “Merri seems the happiest I’ve ever seen her, I don’t think she is having second thoughts.” That was pretty much exactly what James had said to him too, but he still had this niggling thought that something was bothering her.

“She took this morning off to do something, she’s distant and she doesn’t want to talk to me about it.” That was probably the part that was bothering him more than anything. All he wanted was for her to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her. If she didn’t want to talk about it then he could respect that, but just ignoring it wasn’t going to play with him either. She just needed to tell him.

“But why do you think that means she’s having second thoughts?” OK, that was a good question and one he wasn’t sure he knew how to answer. Especially since his only real answer was that it was a feeling he had. When it came to Brody, his feelings had been wrong before.

“None of this was her idea.” He said quietly, thinking about the fact that he’d proposed, he’d suggested the speedy wedding in the space of only a few days and almost everything since had been his idea, ultimately. Sure she had been the one to ask him to move in, but everything else was all him. “What if she regrets that she jumped in?”

“Have you spoken to her about this?” Another probing question. How was Loretta so good at these. If she wasn’t the medical examiner he would be encouraging NCIS to train her up as an interrogator. Loretta and Brody questioning suspects would have been a sight to behold. However, talking about things with Brody seemed like a no-go.

“No. I only really noticed this morning.” He had to be honest about that too. Ever since James had left she’d been a little quieter than she ordinarily would have been. He knew that he had nothing to worry about, but something had clearly changed for Brody, and Pride didn’t know what it was. 

“Are you regretting it?” Loretta next move actually wrong footed him for a moment. He’d been too busy anticipating the next possible question about Brody that he hadn’t even considered Loretta turning the tables on him and asking about his opinions on their situation.

“Not for a second. It was rash, but it’s the best decision I ever made.” He knew that for a fact. No matter what went on between them he knew that Brody was perfect for him, and they deserved to be together after everything that they’d had to try and make it through.

“Tell me about it.” It wasn’t a question, really. More of a statement, an invitation for him to get into what he needed, and what was possibly wanted from him. He did need to talk about everything, and if this was the only opportunity he had then he was able to deal with that. 

Going right the way back, back to before he’d ever met Meredith Brody, he started thinking about the story of how he got here. “When Linda asked me to leave… I thought that I was done, I wanted to make my marriage work but I can see now that that was never going to continue.” It was a somewhat painful admission to make, as he had always wanted to work things through with Linda, and even now he wondered what would have happened if he had. It was an intellectual exercise only though, as Linda had a new partner in Texas, and he had Brody. “We loved each other, but she didn’t dedicate her life to this the way I did, she understood my choice but she never understood my drive.”

“And Merri?” For a moment Pride wasn’t exactly sure which bit Loretta was asking about for Brody. Did she understand him. Did she understand his work. Did she know him, or did they love each other. So he thought seriously again before speaking again.

“She understands all of it.” He nodded a little at that, knowing that no matter what, Brody knew the passion he had for his job, and the love he held for finding justice. “We read cold case files together in bed. I no longer need to even look at her to know what she’s thinking, both at work and at home.” That was something that helped for certain. They needed that kind of knowledge for work, and it helped. “I still love Linda, a part of me always will. But I can see now that if we have such a thing as soulmates, Linda wasn’t mine.”

“Merri is?” Loretta pressed again, and for a moment he wondered if it sounded bad that he was certain someone he’d known for 2 years and been in a relationship with for 3 months meant more to him than someone who he was married to for 23 years, but he did.

“I think so.” He nodded, the guilt quickly giving way to the feeling of contentedness that came along with finally knowing what he was looking for, and for knowing that it wasn’t all a bad thing that his first marriage had broken down. He wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t.

“Do you think she feels the same?” There, that was the question and it was one that Pride had no real idea how to answer. Brody was so compartmented inside of herself he didn’t even know if she could answer the question.

“I think she thinks she does, but knowing… I have no idea.” He knew what she was thinking, he didn’t know how she was feeling. Sometimes… He didn’t even think Brody knew how she was feeling. In truth, he was a little jealous of her ex. James had that history with her, and Pride hadn’t gotten that yet. “When James was here he said that he hadn’t seen Merri so happy since they were together. But I also realised that there is still a lot of Merri’s past that I don’t know, that she’s never shared.”

“Like?” Loretta was far too good at making him face his probably more unreasonable worries. He couldn’t help these thoughts, and he sometimes couldn’t help if he’d made all the wrong choices. He didn’t think that he had, as he was happy and everyone was telling him that Merri was happy too.

“She has scars I don’t know about, and there are parts of her past that are classified I know that. I could get read in to them, or the spousal privilege laws offer us both protection.” He knew that was only part of the problem, it wasn’t so much that she had a history with James, more that she hadn’t thought to talk to him about things. Then again, he didn’t tell her everything either. “But then there are friends James mentioned I’d never even heard of, and places I never knew she’d been.” He knew he was being unreasonable. But with Linda he knew everything.

Loretta, as she often somehow did, clearly knew exactly what he was thinking about.“It’s different being with a woman who had a life before she knew you than with your college crush, right?” She asked, and that was actually the best way to phrase it all. Brody had had a life before they met, as had he, and they needed to learn about it. 

“Very much so, and I have to admit, those differences worry me.” He’d just been so used to how the relationship with Linda had been balanced, where they knew every bit of one another’s history, lives. They knew everything and he hadn’t had to wonder. 

“Dwayne. Meredith is a free spirit, fiercely independent and most of all supremely ethical. Possibly more of her issues are coming from the fact that the two of you can’t tell your friends and are breaking the rules than her regretting that you took this leap at all.” 

“I don’t know how we can get around that.” He mumbled, because he didn’t really know what was possible to change there without changing everything. Maybe that needed to happen though. “Because we are breaking the rules, and Chris or Sonja could report that, and then I could lose her.”

“Isn’t that the chance we always take?” Loretta asked, and Pride just nodded and looked away. She was exactly right, and no matter what their personal commitment meant that he and Brody were always going to be connected to each other, they were always going to be a part of one-another’s lives. 

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He considered for a moment, as Loretta was right, that probably would help Brody move past what it was that was bothering her. Maybe they both needed to loosen up and start letting people in, as that would mean they could be honest about their relationship with everyone.

“Go home to your wife, Dwayne.” Loretta ended with her usual delivery of sage advice, and truth be told he did love that he had a wife to go home too again. Not that he would ever say it in quite such terms to Brody. She would not be as appreciative of that thought as he was.

He sat working through things in his mind, but after some time he heard his phone ringing. Flipping the case open he smiled seeing Brody’s picture, and as always when he answered she didn’t give him a chance to give a greeting, she just went straight into her thoughts. “King where are you, I expected you back ages ago.” She sounded a little concerned about him, and that made him smile slightly.

“I got caught up at the office, I’m setting off now. Do we need anything?” It was becoming easier to remember to ask that again when they weren’t leaving together. Often there was nothing that was actually needed, but sometimes a quick stop was needed, and it all felt so very domestic.

“Can you grab some milk?” Pride pictured her in his mind, stood in the middle of the kitchen looking around as she asked that, trying to work out if she needed anything else. There was always something, but it was rarely actually needed urgently, it could generally wait.

“Sure. See you in twenty.” That was more a guess than anything, as he forgot how long it actually took to stop, buy something and still get home. At least he knew he had a good reason to go home now. She wouldn’t have called him if she hadn’t been wanting him home. Maybe Loretta was right.

“I cooked. Don’t panic it’s edible.” Brody got out before he hung up, and they both chuckled at that, as while they joked that Brody couldn’t cook, she was actually very good as long as she had a recipe. “I love you.” She added on the end, and he smiled even more at that. OK, so Loretta had definitely been right.

“I love you too, but Meredith I’m always going to panic when you cook.” He teased, and decided that he would just grab some milk from the office fridge. He could replace it on his way in in the morning. Now he just wanted to get home and reassure himself that all of his concerns were unnecessary. They might have something going on, but they would work it out.


	27. Chapter 27

LaSalle hadn’t really stopped staring at Brody since she’d arrived this morning, and he wanted to figure out what was on her mind, also what was powering her drive for Pizza Rolls. However she also kept looking up at him furtively. He had to wonder for a moment if she knew, then he realised that he was looking at Meredith Brody, of course Percy had told her. That was his assumption, anyway, maybe he should be certain. “I assume Sonja spoke to you?”

“Why yes Chris, I would absolutely love to put my work down and listen to your relationship woes.” OK. She was mad at him and he wasn’t entirely sure why, he started running through everything he’d done recently that might have pissed her off, but nothing was clearly coming to mind. He’d done too much annoying stuff, he needed to try to be less annoying.

“Merri…” He tried to sound pathetic and needy, but he wasn’t entirely sure that it worked. he hoped it did, as he was sure that she would be able to give him some good advice, he just needed for her to not be totally mad at him. Especially since he wasn’t entirely sure what she was mad about.

“Fine, fine, fine.” She let out an exaggerated sigh then looked at him with a shake of her head and a groan. “I guess I’m just mad that I had to hear about you and Addie from Sonja.” Oh no. he had really hoped that Percy wouldn’t have passed along that little tidbit, but of course she had. Now he was going to have to try and explain it, and no matter how he explained it it was going to sound bad.

“There is nothing going on between me and Addie.” He said immediately, knowing that if he didn’t clarify quickly she would end up calling Addie up and checking up, especially if they hadn’t met up yet, as she’d use it as an excuse for them to get together and then Brody would be even more mad at him. 

“That’s clearly not the impression you gave Sonja.” She commented, and he grimaced, as that confirmed that Percy had at least spoken about some of what happened the night before last. He didn’t know exactly how much, but she’d obviously said something, and Brody was one of the most perceptive people on the planet. 

“Well yeah, I was trying to… make her guilty or jealous or something.” There was no story he could invent on the spot that Brody wouldn’t question and force him to be a flustered mess. She just knew how to see through lies and he really didn’t want to have to try and work it out as he went only to have her tear it apart.

“But why?” Clearly she wasn’t at all understanding his motivation for that, and in reality he couldn’t blame her, because he didn’t understand why he’d done it either. He didn’t know why he’d just wanted to make Sonja feel as bad as he’d been occasionally made to feel lately. 

“I don’t know why. I just did.” He wasn’t going to go into his suspicions about why he had wanted to make her care. Or to test whether or not she did care about him in the same way he did. Obviously she did, otherwise they wouldn’t have had sex. At least, that was how he thought on it.

“Chris.” There was a note of caution in Brody’s voice, and he really wanted to heed it, given that she was an intelligent woman who knew far more, really, about relationships than he did. Not necessarily  because she was older, although she was, but mostly just because she had more experience than he did.

He also knew that while Brody didn’t pry, Percy had needed someone to talk to, and that had fallen to Brody more often than not. So he didn’t want to act as though she didn’t already know the entire situation. “Look I know she told you about what happened the day I got shot. She probably told you about the other night too, since you know about what I said about Addie.”

“Now you see, I did think it was odd Addie was out on a date with you only a few hours after lunch with me she was telling me about her fiancé.” LaSalle deeply hoped that Brody hadn’t mentioned that to Percy, though he was pretty certain that if she had he would no longer be alive, so it was a safe bet that she’d sat on that knowledge.

“I know, I shouldn’t have done it but, Merri...” He wanted to talk about how Percy had made him feel recently, how it had been an honest way to try and make her see that none of this was fair, but it didn’t look as though Brody was actually going to listen to his reasons.

“No, no buts. You just shouldn’t have done it.” She looked even more mad at him for that, and he didn’t actually know why. He opened his mouth to ask but before he could make a sound she put her hand up and stopped. “Chris. shut up and listen to me for a minute.” There was that effortless authority she wielded from time to time, and he couldn’t actually help but listen.

“Fine, shoot.” He sat down, letting her have his undivided attention as it really wasn’t going to be worth it to ignore her. If she thought that she could help him, or impart some serious wisdom he had to think that she was probably right, and he probably actually need to listen to what she was thinking about.

“I’m not an expert in relationships, in fact I’m pretty terrible at them, but there are some things that you should just not do, and you’re doing all of them.” OK, that was really not what he was expecting. For some reason he’d thought that Merri might go easy on him since he was clearly feeling miserable, how wrong he’d been. Instead she seemed to be trying to open up and help him, even if she was terrible about how she started it.

“Merri, are you going to try and give me advice?” Alright, he was mostly teasing, for the most point the advice she gave to others was perfectly acceptable. It was just her personal ability to follow that advice that was questionable, and often she wasn’t actually able to follow the advice she’d give others.

“Yes, so shut up.” That was the second time in less than two minutes that she’d told him to shut up, and he wasn’t really sure how to respond to that other than to do exactly as she asked and shut up. Albeit briefly. “Which of us in this room have been in a relationship for longer than 3 months?”

“OK that’s a fair point.” He had to concede that. From all accounts she’d been with James for several years, and from the sketchy evidence he’d gotten about Brody’s former fiance, he would guess at six or seven, and they’d broken up for a reason that anyone reasonable would understand. They had been adults, something LaSalle was rarely accused of being. “Hit me.”

“You have got to stop pushing her. That’s all you do.” He ended up staring at her open mouthed. He thought that he had been doing well not pressuring Percy into anything. In his favour or otherwise. He’d certainly been trying not to mention it, and not to push her. Apparently, that wasn’t enough. “You try to act like you aren’t, but you are.”

That seemed like a strange thing, and he didn’t understand at all. What made it acting, not how he actually felt. “How do you mean?” He needed to question, he needed the answer. LaSalle did what felt natural and he knew that maybe that wasn’t a good plan, but it was all he had right now. It was hard for him to think about it when he just wanted to think of a future where there might be something more between them.

“This constant trying to get her attention, asking her to do things and be with you.” Brody sounded exasperated, and at that point he actually didn’t blame her. He did do all of those things, and he just wanted to spend enough time around Percy that she see they were meant to be. “She isn’t your girlfriend, she  _ has _ a girlfriend.”

“But we…” He started, wanting to point out that they had slept together, what did that mean about her relationship with Deena? Surely that would point out that maybe she didn’t think as much about Deena as she liked to think that she did. If she was willing to jump into bed with someone else.

“Yes, fine you slept with her, you know how many one night stands I’ve had since I came to New Orleans?” Brody asked seriously, and LaSalle barely had to think before he was into double figures. She wasn’t exactly the type who avoided one night stands, and he still wasn’t sure where the ex-fiance fit in that list. “On second thought, don’t answer that.” Clearly she realised that that was a bad thing to ask, and he tried to stop adding them up.

“Merri.” He wanted to point out that he and Percy were still friends, they still had to work together and they needed to work through things. They both needed to get this past them and maybe the only way they could do that was to at least have a conversation. But for the second day running Percy wasn’t in.

“If you’re meant to be she’ll come to you Chris. On her own terms and in her own time.” Alright, that sounded more like Brody was talking from personal experience and trying desperately not to make that obvious. “Without that anything you built would be doomed to utter failure.”

“Is that what happened with your relationships?” He had to ask, maybe it was crossing one of those weird boundaries that Brody still had, even after two years here, but he felt like possibly her opening up to him on that situation would be yet another milestone in her moving on from her past.

“No, my problem is twofold. Either I find a way to sabotage myself and send the decent guys running for the hills, or I pick the exact wrong type of guy and I wait for them to hurt me.” Alright, he hadn’t actually expected an answer, especially not one that seemed to paint his former partner as a very strange person. “I have spoken a lot about this in therapy.” That explained it a lot more, she was using her psychologist babble.

“Still under the mandatory order?” He knew that that had been part of NCIS’ settlement with her, was that she needed to spend some time with a therapist, which actually made sense to him too as she had been through an awful lot in her 15 years in NCIS. Talking it over could only be healthy in the long run.

“For another few weeks at least. They wanted 6 months of twice-weekly visits.” Brody clearly wasn’t loving that, but LaSalle was sure that it would make more sense when it was done. After a second her thoughts clearly went back to him and Percy. “Recently I’ve had it proven to me that when you let something establish itself in time, and do what feels right for both of you, you can have something wonderful.”

He wasn’t entirely sure that he liked that idea, as that would mean that he needed to leave it all up to the universe, and universe didn’t seem to like him very much. He trusted Brody though, and if she was saying that he needed to stop, she was probably right. “So I need to back off entirely?”

“Yeah, and if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.” For some reason, to him, that all seemed far too simple. Leaving it up to the universe in general. He didn’t want to do that, but what he was already doing clearly wasn’t working. They’d had one night, and that would never be enough for him. “If it’s not, then you’re in a better position to move on.”

“I don’t want to move on.” That was the opposite of what he wanted to do, but that was another thing that Brody was probably completely right about. he needed to be prepared for a universe in which Percy stayed with Deena, or worse, found someone that she wanted to be with every more.

“One day you might though.” She persisted and after a few seconds he just nodded and sagged back, slightly emotionally exhausted from that entire conversation. Clearly, noticing that he was tired out Brody decided to use the lull as an opening to try some comedy. “Can I go back to work now?”

“I heard a rumour about you this morning.” OK, he couldn’t sit on the mumblings he’d heard, and he needed to know whether or not it was true, and if either way it was something she would consider. 

“Yeah?” She asked, pulling the plate of Pizza Rolls back to her, and he narrowed his eyes at them for a moment because he still hadn’t worked out exactly what it was with her and her seeming obsession with them. To the point where he was pretty sure she had avoided Pride the entire day before while she got them into the office.

“Well first, what is it with you and Pizza Rolls right now? This is the second day running where you've eaten them by the bag.” He was only momentarily distracted from his quest, and he was fairly certain that when it came down to it he was going to push to get some kind of answer.

“I’m hungry and I just really want these.” It seemed like that was going to be as much of an answer as he could hope to expect on the Pizza Rolls as she shoved another in her mouth but continued watching him.

“Alright, fine.” He grumbled, as he had hoped that there would be something that was explained, but nope. Then he had to think about the rumour that he’d heard, and in so many ways he hoped that it wasn’t at all true. All because he knew if it was him being offered the slot he’d take it in an instant. “Apparently you’re wanted for the new office CGIS is opening up.”

“Where did you hear that from?” Brody looked up at him, and while she seemed shocked he didn’t think that it was about the position, in fact it seemed more that she was surprised he knew. That made him even more sure that she knew all about it.

“A little birdie. You gonna take it?” He wasn’t going to rat out any of the people who had told him that. Mostly because Brody knew all of them and none of them needed Brody to be up on murder or assault charges in the near future. 

“I’m not sure. If I’m officially offered it…” She mumbled, trailing off toward the end of her thought. He just kept watching her and pulled a slight face, thinking that she really needed to try giving a more full answer. He wasn’t going to stop pushing for it until he gave her one at the very least. “I’d consider it, maybe.”

“Merri.” He pressed, wishing that she was more comfortable about opening up to people for a moment. “Tell me what you’re thinking about, then maybe I can help you, the way you try to help me.”

She stopped trying to deflect his question and just sighed loudly. “Do you really think NCIS is ever going to stop trying to get me out? If I was offered the position with CGIS not only would it be a huge promotion, it would give me a whole new agency to piss off.” That reminder of the  _ Moultrie _ investigation and everything that had happened in May causing more than a little pain on her behalf. He didn’t blame her for considering her options. “But most of all it would keep me in New Orleans.”

“So you’re seriously considering it?” He pressed, just because it sounded more than an option really, it sounded like just possibly she’d already made up her mind, and he didn’t want to think about that.

“It’s an option.” Was the only response she gave, and he just stopped to look at her for a moment, just on the off chance that she actually said another more. “Look, don’t mention it to anyone else, OK? I need to talk to King about it before I make a final decision.”

“I promise, scouts honour.” He promised, and though he hated that she was even considering leaving, her arguments had made some sense. From what he understood, NCIS had been trying to get her out since the incident on the  _ Moultrie _ nine years earlier. As for her advice, he really needed to take that under advisement, because it made sense. He didn’t want to push Percy away before she was ready.  


	28. Chapter 28

The thing that Percy was worst at in the world was disconnecting her mind when she was trying not to focus on something. Right now she was trying to forget everything that had gone on between her and LaSalle two nights earlier. She had taken a couple of personal days from work, but tonight she was sat in the bar waiting on Deena finishing, but she was apparently still too distracted. “Earth to Sonja?” She heard, and refocusing her mind she smiled a little looking across the bar to her girlfriend.

“What, sorry? I was miles away.” She was going to be honest about that. Deena had come to know her well enough that she would have known anyway, that that would have just gotten embarrassing after a few times, so Percy just accepted that she wasn’t all there. She needed to get LaSalle off her mind, but that wasn’t happening.

“Yeah you were. What’s going on in your head?” That was the last question that she actually wanted asking right now, it was too hard to think of an answer, but she knew that she needed to say something or Deena would start pressing further and that would end up admitting to everything.

“It’s just a case.” So, that was a lie. It wasn’t a case, but it was technically about her work, therefore it wasn’t entirely a lie. It was just partly a lie, something to save Deena feelings, as Percy didn’t want to tell her that she’d slept with someone else, not when she so desperately wanted to make the relationship work.

“So you can’t talk about it.” Deena complained, and it was obvious again that she wasn’t dealing so well about the secrecy that did come with Percy job, even when she wasn’t trying to hide something. She couldn’t say a lot of things, even if she wanted to, in some ways it made her jealous that Brody and Pride were living together, they could talk about work at home.

“No, I’m sorry love.” She just smiled sadly, but she could feel that this was going to start another argument about how much time she was spending at work and how distracted it made her. Percy wouldn’t deny that it was hard, but she still thought they could make it work, if she got this situation with LaSalle out of her head.

“I feel like you can’t really talk about anything with me anymore.” Deena had often complained about that side of Percy work. Seemingly fine with it when she was working and when she could tell people that her girlfriend was an NCIS agent. Other times the lack of communication actually seemed to be a real problem. “Everything seems to be about work.”

“Well, I always told you my life was my work and my work was my life.” Nothing was really going to change that, no matter what Percy thought about it. She was still going to be dedicated to her job and to making sure that she was in the best position to catch criminals, just like she’d always tried to be before.

“I guess I just wish you could open up more, you’ve barely said five things to me tonight.” Looking around Percy couldn’t help but feel deeply uncomfortable about this conversation taking place where they were, given that they were in Pride’s bar, and he was sat near them.  

“Just a lot on my mind.” That seemed like a really poor excuse, but it genuinely was the truth, there was a lot on her mind, and most of it was to do with Christopher LaSalle.

“Sure, I get it.” Deena said then just sighed and walked away to the other end of the bar, clearly deciding that it wasn’t worth fighting with her about. Truthfully Percy couldn’t even blame her, if they were thinking about the reverse she would probably be the same, as she didn’t like it when people wouldn’t tell her what they were thinking.

Calling after her Percy was ready to swear off relationships again as they never seemed to go right for her, although she really wanted to make this one work desperately. hopefully she could still somehow pull it back. “Deena…”

“Things not going well?” Pride asked from the stool beside her. A glance over to their boss told her that he was genuinely concerned about two of his employees, and that made her feel a little better about the fact that he was there. It didn’t seem like he was judging her for anything, but she still didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t even know anymore. It’s probably my fault whatever is going on.” It was actually definitely her fault. She couldn’t let Deena take the blame when it was all on her, but that wasn’t actually making anything better. 

“You’re as bad as Brody for blaming everything on yourself.” That comment actually said more about Brody than her. Because Brody really did think that everything was her fault, and it was a little sad that circumstances made her believe that. She deserved more than she had. “What makes you think it’s your fault?”

“I did something stupid a couple of days ago and I’m just trying to move past that but, of course, that requires me thinking it over and I can’t multitask with that.” not something that she would normally admit to her boss, but he seemed to be acting in the role of a friend today, and she really needed to say this to someone. 

“Want to talk about it?” He pressed, and she stopped then stared at him and actually realised that this was her boss she was talking to. She couldn’t tell him what was going on in her head the way she would if it was Brody, but Brody was actually working the bar with Deena tonight and they seemed busy.

“King, no offence but you’re my boss.” She commented, more because she was suddenly feeling awkward about being totally open with the man who was responsible for her continued employment, especially since her story involved not one but two of his other employees.

“I’m her boss too.” Pride pointed out, then moved his stool closer to her, clearly determined to keep things calm and honest, and give her an opening to talk about what was bothering her. “How about we take it as a total hypothetical, no names and I won’t judge you for anything you may or may not have done.”

“OK.” Maybe getting a male perspective on everything might help. Brody was amazing but she was still a woman, and sometimes you needed things to be looked at from the other side to try and help you the best that they could. So if Pride was offering to give her that perspective could she really turn it down. “You won’t tell her though, right?”

“It’s between us, I promise.” Pride smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand softly. That little movement enough to begin breaking down what little wall she’d started building in herself to segment all this off again. It wasn’t healthy, but it was all that she could do sometimes. 

“Alright, so.” She started then paused immediately, thinking of a way to phrase all of this so she wouldn’t give it away too fast. “I slept with someone a couple of days ago. I don’t think it means anything, it was stupid and a mistake and I regret it.” When she started talking the feelings all fell out of her mouth because she had needed to say them to someone, and she hadn’t even entirely realised that herself.

Clearly though, Pride knew there was something that Percy wasn’t saying, and suddenly how he and Brody were so good together in interrogation was obvious to her. They could get you admitting things you’d never consider telling anybody else in the universe. “But…” He prompted, and she just stared at him a moment before continuing.

“But I can’t get the other person out of my head.” She sighed, finally officially admitting to someone that wasn’t herself that LaSalle was just wedged in her brain and wouldn’t come out. She was really trying, but he wasn’t to be dislodged from the corner that he had apparently made into his home since May.

“Are you sure that you regret it?” Pride said in that calm, controlled voice that again served him so well when he was talking to victims and suspects, as it seemed like you couldn’t fool him and you couldn’t lie to him. It was an uncomfortable place to be in, though it was helping her think about what she needed.

“I love Deena.” She asserted, absolutely certain of her feelings for her girlfriend of a little over 6 weeks. She hated, in some ways, that she was so conflicted. Given how she felt about Deena it shouldn’t even be a concern, but it was, and something about Christopher LaSalle just pulled her in and she couldn’t 

“Divorce that from your current thinking, focus on the other person.” Pride’s voice was calm and even, just like it always was. It really helped her try and focus on what was going on in her head. She swore Pride was better than a shrink. Maybe because he understood the work they did. That was the problem with most people, they just couldn’t understand the draw of the job. LaSalle “Did it really, honestly mean nothing?”

“I think I’m afraid of letting the other person know that I care so much.” She really was, there was so much bravado when she was with LaSalle, she didn’t want him to think that she’d only been playing hard to get or something similar. She really just wanted to let him know how she felt without changing everything.  

“Maybe they already know.” Pride said quietly, but he seemed to be talking more to himself than to her with that reply. After a moment he lost the misty eyed expression and turned to her with a serious expression. “All you can probably do is go talk to them, then  _ maybe _ you could fix things with Deena.” She thought over his words and nodded. She decided that the best idea right now was to go and talk to LaSalle, getting him out of her system.

“You’re right, I should go talk to them.” She was careful not to give away who she was going to go and talk to, but she made it clear that this was the end of that. Grabbing her jacket and back she smiled a little at Pride and thought about the fact Deena would wonder where she’d gone. “Tell D I’ll call her tonight.”

“Sure.” Pride agreed and she stepped out, deciding that leaving his all behind was far preferable to other things. She needed to work things out with LaSalle and decide which way she wanted this to go, because right now she wasn’t even sure herself. All she knew was that if she saw him she’d be able to work it out.

Her mind still wasn’t really made up when she pulled up outside his house. She’d been thinking about it the entire drive over to his place, and it really hadn’t actually helped her at all. Getting out and hammering on the door she wanted to get his attention as quickly as she could. “Chris! Chris open the door.”

She heard the clicking of the door as he unlocked it and just looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “What the hell Sonja?” He demanded as soon as he was there and she pushed her way passed him into the apartment. She didn’t care if he had a guest or anything like that, they deserved to hear about this.

“Look we need to talk about the other night.” She wasn’t giving him time to stop her from saying what she needed to say. Percy knew that without talking about this nothing, at all, was going to be solved. They both desperately needed to get through this situation and move on. 

“What about it?” Of course, LaSalle was going to pretend as though he didn’t know exactly what she meant, as though her bringing up the situation was a burden on him. Maybe it should be, as this was as much his fault as it was hers. She wasn’t taking all the blame, and she wasn’t letting him get off.

“Look, I can’t get you out of my head.” She was completely honest about that because he deserved that at the very least. “I know you’ve been trying not to push though I’m pretty sure that’s what you want, but I can’t cope and it’s really messing with my ability to really do anything.”

“Sonja, I really…” LaSalle started, and for some reason Percy felt compelled to stop him before he had a chance to break her stride, which is exactly what she would have had to do if he started speaking. He would have said something that would have gotten her off track, and she didn’t even know what her track was yet.

“No look just listen. The other night was a mistake, it shouldn’t have happened, but I can’t stop thinking about it and I think that’s because I need to tell you something.” What were the words that were even falling out of her mouth right now. She didn’t know what she needed to say, but somehow, somewhere in her mind her mind was made up.

“What?” He stopped, clearly realising that she needed to speak and Percy was really very glad that he did. She didn’t want to have to fight him to say what she was thinking, and she didn’t want to have to think more about what was going on in her mind.

“I care about you, a lot. I want to always have you in my life, and that is exactly why that can never, ever happen again.” She started, and that was, suddenly, not what she’d really thought she was going to say. Clearly her mind had made a decision, and even if it wasn’t what she’d expected it was a decision. “ _ We _ are never going to be a couple. We’re just colleagues, best friends. That’s how I want it to stay.” She thought again for a moment, given that she had clearly decided on Deena, not LaSalle, and therefore she needed to keep LaSalle at a distance until they were settled. “That’s how I  _ need _ it to stay.”

“OK, I can accept that.” He said in the end, but as she watched him, his chin dropped to his chest and he sighed quietly. “I won’t deny how I feel about you, and I need some time to get over this, but I will. You’re too important for me to lose.” LaSalle’s words actually meant a lot to her, and she was glad that he thought she was important to him the way he was important to her. 

“Well… good.” She didn’t really know what to say other than that, and that was a more difficult thing for her to think about. If they were both in the same position that it was important for them to remain friends then they could work on all of this. They could get this all set up, and that was a little important to her.

LaSalle smiled a little, looking at her with a sad look on her face. “Merri was telling me earlier, actually… that I needed to back off, give you space. That you’d tell me when you made up your mind.” For some reason, she wasn’t at all surprised that LaSalle and Brody had spoken about their situation, Brody had been a good guide for them both, it seemed. “Sound like it happened faster than she expected.”

“I realised tonight that I have to prioritise my relationship. Deena doesn’t get the job like you to, but she gets me, and her being outside the job means she’s fun.” Percy just needed things that weren’t, at all, like their job. Deena was the opposite and that was exactly what was needed. “She is what I need in my life, and I hope you understand that.”

“I do. Go be with your girlfriend, Sonja.”  LaSalle’s dismissal hurt, but Percy tried not to let it in. It was hard for her to stomach, but somehow right now it was going to be more difficult that he had sent her away, even though she really kind of deserved it, she was the one who’d just broken his heart.

“See you at work tomorrow.” She said back to him then turned and headed out to her car again. Percy didn’t actually know if she’d done the right thing, but she knew that she’d done what she needed to do to try and save her relationship. Deena needed to be her priority right now, and she needed LaSalle to just be her friend again.


	29. Chapter 29

Brody had been dreading this conversation, and she wasn’t sure how he was going to take it. She knew he wouldn’t blame her once she’d explained her reasoning, but she knew that it wasn’t going to be the easiest of conversations. she knew this needed to happen though. Gibbs had come through for her in a big way, and he was sure that the offer would have come. He’d fully gotten Borin on board, and now she’d had the official offer, which she had of course accepted.  Maybe she should have spoken to her husband before she did, but he would have managed to talk her out of it, and neither of them needed that right now. He was up looking through old cases that were still stored in his old room, and that was perfect, as it gave them privacy. “Dwayne, we need to talk.”

“What’s up?” He looked up and smiled as she shut the door behind her. She knew that Percy and LaSalle wouldn’t follow her even I'd they wanted to. They were better than that, and they also understood that sometimes partners needed to talk alone. That was why they were partners to begin with. Brody then took a deep breath, still not sure how she was going to do this. 

“I got offered a job today… and I took it.” As usual, word vomit seemed like the way to go. She just let it all fall out of her mouth, finding that that was an easier way of informing absolutely anyone of anything they needed to know. Sometimes that was the problem though, she wasn’t always articulate.

“Wait, what?” Pride stopped her before she could say anything more, explaining more. He looked like she had broken his heart, and that hurt her more than she cared to admit. She didn’t like feeling as though she’d hurt the man she loved, but that was why she was making this enormous change in her life.

“There is an opening to head up the CGIS office here in New Orleans, Gibbs and Borin both recommended me for the position and I’m going to take it. I’m transferring.” She spelled it out as clearly as she possibly could. The following silence was not the most comfortable she had ever experienced, but it had happened.

“What do you mean, you’re transferring?” Pride asked again, though this time it was more out of shock and possibly denial than confusion. She understood that it wasn’t easy for him to accept that she couldn’t stay as they were, but she just couldn’t. There was too much riding on them for her to be distracted by working with her husband.

“King, we’re married. I love you but… I can’t work for you anymore.” She wanted that to be clear, because she really did love him. More than she could ever tell him she was. She needed him more than she’d admit too. That was part of her problem now. “I worry too much about you on cases, and if this ended badly… I’d need to have transferred to move forward in my career…”

“So you’re leaving NCIS because we got married?” His voice was confused and sad, and it hurt her that she couldn’t have prevented that. She hadn’t wanted to do this, not really, and she hadn’t truly wanted the CGIS job. But it was the best for them both, and she was certain that she’d grow to love her new position.

“I’m leaving NCIS so that we have a shot, and it’s a pretty big promotion, I’ll be an SSA too.” To her that also meant an awful lot, they wouldn’t have to worry about any of the rules, they wouldn’t had to be concerned about anything, and that was going to make it better for them in the long run. They could finally be honest about how they felt for each other, and they could tell their friends that they were very happily married. “I love you so much, I never want that to change, and that’s why I have to do this.”

There was a look of defeat in Pride’s eyes when he looked back up at her and frowned. She moved over to him and the chair he sat on and slid into his lap and kissed him once before he spoke quietly. “I want you to stay on my team.” It was a sullen, pathetic comment, but Brody found it adorable.

“We both know after this… we can’t go on like that. I’m too worried about you and we could make a mistake.” She just wanted to remind him how they both got when it was their family involved, and given their jobs there was always going to be something with the two of them. Staying would be a mistake. She knew that. “I have made enough mistakes in my time.”

“I love you so much, I don’t think I’m ready to have another partner. Not when my current partner is my perfect match.” Pride looked more resigned now, than he had been before, which made her sad even though she knew that she was doing the right thing. She knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but they could do it.

“At least I’ll be staying in New Orleans for the most part. Other than when I’m out on patrol.” She knew that occasional month-long stints on Coast Guard vessels may happen, though she hoped as the lead agent she wouldn’t have to go too often. This was her home, and she wanted to stay here, but she knew it was right. “This will be good for us Dwayne.”

“How can you be so sure?” He asked, though he was starting to regain a little more confidence. His arms were still clamped around her and she smiled a little as he started to nuzzle into her neck gently. That was what helped show her that he was going to eventually get over all of this, and then they’d be stronger as a couple.

“I know you, and us.” She knew that for certain, and she was glad that she knew him that well. “We’ll be stronger for this.” She suddenly put one hand on her stomach and closed her eyes as a bout of nausea washed over her. For days now this had been happening. It wasn’t often though, and generally she just shrugged it off. Pride was more concerned about it than she was.

“You still feeling sick?” Pride asked quietly, kissing her shoulder gently as he did. It was a sweet, soft little gesture, but it really helped in her mind, settled her down after imparting the news of her leaving. He had taken it better than she’d expected, and because of that she was quite happy. As for the sickness, that she could ignore.

“It’s just stomach flu. I’ve had it before.” Not since she’d come to New Orleans, but she had had it. She knew that that was all this was really. Eventually she’d be able to work things out too. It was normally solve by eating more dairy and less meat, which she could do easily really. “Just have to be sensible with what I eat until it stops.” 

“Alright.” The frown on Pride’s face made it obvious that he still wasn’t happy about this, even if he maybe understood why she was doing it. Brody knew what it looked like when he was working something through in his mind. “So you handed your notice in to me, your last two weeks in NCIS begin now. Do you need to take a course to transfer?”

“No, I graduated FLETC already.” She was mostly teasing him with that, and glad that it seemed like he was accepting that this was the decision she’d made. It was going to make everything else that she’d have to do in the coming weeks a lot easier, as he’d be able to help her when she was struggling. “Borin agreed to come and give me a crash course in running a CGIS office.” 

Pride laughed a little at that, and Brody remembered that they had been good friends long before she’d met either of them. “Good.” Was his only real comment on that. After another moment he dropped his head again and sighed softly. “We should tell the others as quickly as we can.”

“Especially since I need to try and negotiated so that we can still work with Loretta and Sebastian.” That was one of her goals if she was going to be investigating anything. Luckily, it seemed, CGIS work rarely involved dead bodies, but Sebastian’s input would be necessary, and she didn’t really trust anyone else with that.

“I’m sure they’ll help you with that.” Pride nodded, clearly understanding that she was a little nervous about making that request, especially straight after she announced that she was going to be leaving them. Maybe it was best that she not think about that right now. She had other things to worry about right now. “Tonight, at the bar?” Pride suggested and she just nodded because that was a good idea.

“Good plan.” She nodded then leant against him a little further. She just couldn’t really believe that they were really at a point where this could be publicly known, after almost three months. “Give me one more kiss before we go back to being Agents Brody and Pride.”

“I’ll go one better than that.” Pride teased and kissed her deeply, leading to a few moments stolen alone in the office. That was going to come to an end if this continued. She’d have no reason to come in here. That was a sobering thought, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Pride soon took all that out of her mind.

Hours later they were all gathered in the bar, and Brody climbed up and sat on the edge of the bar, trying to drag everyone's attention to her, and after a second she just ended up shouting. “OK, can I have all of your attention.” Everyone in the vicinity turned and Brody looked at the ones who not her team with a little confusion. “Not you I don’t even know you.”

“‘Sup Merri?” Percy was the first to react to the statement that Brody had announcement. The look on her face told Brody that she had possibly figured out why she’d be speaking like this. That actually wouldn’t surprise her, Percy was amazing at making intuitive leaps. She just needed to trust herself a little more.

“You’re not hooking up with another terrorist are you?” LaSalle laughed and shook his head, but nobody else joined in and instead Percy just smacked him in the ribs. That was probably exactly what he deserved for that. While she had moved on happily with Pride, she didn’t need to be reminded. “What too soon?”

“Shut up Chris. I have an announcement to make.” She then paused and memorised all their faces. The resignation in Percy face, the hope in LaSalle’s, the guarded interest from Loretta and Patton, the open curiosity of Sebastian and the quiet support from Pride. She then knew that this was going to hit them all differently. “I’m leaving NCIS. I handed King my notice earlier today and he accepted.”

“Wait, what. You’re leaving?” Percy looked stricken, but it was clear that had been what she was expecting, probably from the moment Brody had sat up here. This was important for her and she was happy about it really. She was sure the rest of them would be eventually.“How you gonna help me keep Chris in line?”

Brody ended up laughing loudly, and she smirked holding a hand up. Of course that was the worry that Percy had, not that she really needed any help reigning LaSalle in. “You’ll still see me all the time. I’m taking up a position with CGIS, building up their new office here. I’ll be the supervisory agent.”

“So… you’ll still be here?” Sebastian was the one to ask, his voice seeming smaller than normal. She wanted to make sure they all knew that she wasn’t going to truly leave any of them. She was just changing jobs. That wasn’t going to stop her being a part of this family, and she was never going to leave them completely.

“I’ll still be living in my little house. I assume King will be staying with me.” She already knew that he would be, and while she was on the books to transfer, they both wanted to keep it secret still for a while. “I’ll still be moonlighting here when King is short servers. Not much will change. I just won’t be in the office every day.”

“God we’re really going to miss you.” LaSalle said and pulled her into a hug. Brody didn’t like contact normally, but she couldn’t turn it down in this situation, not really. She was hoping that it wasn’t going to do too much, and that was hard for them all.

“Why are you leaving, you’re like my Yoda.” Percy complained again, and Brody couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that and she loved that it was how it was happening. They were all taking this better than she would have thought, but she knew that it wasn’t necessarily going to stay that way. “How will I learn a good way to do everything.”

“You call me and I’ll go over it with you.” She wasn’t going to abandon Percy to LaSalle and Pride, not entirely. She still needed some guidance, and a friend to open up too. She felt like she needed to explain more. “I know it sucks right now, but after Russo, and the way that I’m still treated over the  _ Moultrie _ … It’s time for me to move on, and I think that this will be a good move for me.”

“Just remember we love you, Meredith.” Loretta said next. Making sure that Brody knew that this was how they all felt. She knew that it was and she was really hoping that it wouldn’t matter that much in the long run. Now they all knew what was going to happen, things could start changing.

“I can’t forget that Loretta, you guys are my family. I haven’t had that since I lost Emily, but you became a second family, and that gave me the strength to reconnect with my parents.” That had been important for her, because her parents were her last connection to Emily, and she knew now they were back how much she’d missed them. “I love you all.” She smiled and held her arms wide, and though she didn’t really like to touch people she wanted to hug them all, and she ended up the recipient of the biggest federal group hug she knew of. They had all taken it better than she’d expected them to.


	30. Chapter 30

He wasn’t really ready to face this, knowing that Brody was going to be leaving his team in a week. He was still somewhat trying to wrap his head around it, and while he wanted her to stay right where she was, he also knew that this was the best thing for them both. Since Russo, she hadn’t felt as though the agency had her back. She trusted their team, one or two others, but for the most part she didn’t trust anyone. “I still can’t really believe you’re leaving.” He mumbled, taking the opportunity while they were alone to kiss her neck. 

“Well, I start shadowing next week, officially start in two.” She replied, and he felt her just pressing back into him gently. He recognised that as a sign from her that she wanted him to hold her for a few moments, and he didn’t entirely blame her for that. Pride was going to miss this stolen, private moments in two ways, when they could tell their friends about them, and when she had moved on.

“That I do though, I just wish you weren’t. We’re going to miss you.” He whispered into her ear, and giving her a final squeeze he stepped back. The others had arrived, just as they always did around the same time every day, how the three others based in this office synced up so perfectly he’d never know, but they had as long as Percy had worked in the office.

“You still trying to talk her into staying, King?” LaSalle asked as they all came through to join them in the kitchen, and Pride couldn’t resist taking the opportunity given to him to shoot a fond look at Brody, who stuck her tongue out in response. It was another calm day for their team, no urgent cases had popped up, just an older case they’d now been working on for a month but their leads had gone cold.

“Every minute of every day.” Pride answered honestly, because he did spend an uncommon amount of time trying to convince Brody that she’d made an awful mistake and she needed to reverse the decision and stay with them. He knew that her mind was made up, and she wasn’t going to change it now. “She’s not budging.”

“We are really gonna miss you Merri.” Percy added to Pride’s thoughts and put her hand on the top of Brody’s arm with a smile before ducking around her to get whatever was in the fridge. For yet another moment he wondered why Brody was always eating. She had a plausible explanation, but he still wasn’t sure he bought it.

“You do all realise that you’re still going to see me all the time?” Brody seriously looked confused and Pride wondered if she even knew how much they would miss having her right there. He didn’t even care that they’d be going home to each other, she wouldn’t be at work with him, wouldn’t be his partner, and that was a huge change he still wasn’t at all prepared for. “I’m not moving away or leaving the city. I’m moving to a new office four blocks from here.” After that there was a silence that fell over everyone, and they all needed a moment to think of how to argue with that.

“Yeah but you’re not gonna be here.” LaSalle was the first one to gather his thoughts, and also the first one to say how they were all feeling. Even Pride hadn’t been able to say exactly those words to her, even though they were all feeling exactly the same thing. Maybe not all to the same level, but they were all feeling it.

“Who is gonna make bad comments about computers at me now?” Patton asked with his typical joking tone. Pride knew that that was just his way of showing how much he was truly going to miss having Brody around the office. Pride wanted to say something too, something that would no doubt out them far earlier than they were really ready, but thankfully Brody herself started to chuckle and broke the desperation that had suddenly come over him.

As Brody laughed along to herself he felt the expectation of everyone listening for what she was going to say. “I’m sure I can train Sonja in the best ways to get under your skin.” All four people who were listening to Brody burst out laughing loudly at that, because of course Percy would be the easiest to train to be as annoying as Brody had enjoyed being when she was in that kind of a mood.

“She couldn’t compare.” Patton ended up saying when his laughter had trailed off long enough for him to catch his breath. Clearly from the grin on her face, Brody was more than a little proud of the fact she had made them all laugh with a comment that sounded to anyone outside of their little team to be a simple suggestion.

“Thanks, Patton.” Brody clearly took it as a compliment, and at that moment Brody bent down below the counter and pulled out a bag of chips and just stood eating them as though she didn’t have a care in the world. Somehow Pride was totally unsurprised by this now, but it was obvious some of the others were beginning to get very confused by it.

“Are you eating again?” LaSalle almost exploded as soon as she started eating, and it was hilarious to see that too. It showed exactly how observant they were as a team, that any change in a routine was enough to bring up a red flag, and that made Pride proud of them all, because it was another sign that they were great agents, all of them.

“What? I’m hungry!” Brody defended, with a hint of insult in her tone, but it was obvious that nobody else was quite buying that kind of deflection either. Honestly, she’d been so stressed after Russo she’d barely eaten, he was glad that she was finally starting to eat and gain weight again. She’d been dangerously thin in his opinion.

“All you ever do is eat. You never used to eat so much.” LaSalle commented on one of Pride’s earlier thoughts, and he was glad that others had noticed that Brody didn’t seem to ever stop eating right now. It wasn’t even that it bothered Pride especially, though when all she wanted to eat was junk food he was a little more concerned.

“I’m just hungry all the time at the moment, it’s getting over that bout of stomach flu I had.” He gave her a look and shook his head, because they both knew that it was nothing to do with stomach flu, and it had everything to do with stress. He’d let her continue peddling the stomach flu line though, just as it seemed that living in denial made her most comfortable.

“We need girls nights often so I can bitch about the boys.” He heard Percy suggest a little more quietly, possibly only loud enough for him to hear since they’d already told her that he would be staying with Brody still for as long as it took. Pride was still hopeful that he’d be there the rest of his life, but he couldn’t say that yet.

“All the time, any time you need me just call. I’m not leaving any of you.” Pride knew that Brody wanted to make it very clear that she wasn’t leaving the team, she wasn’t leaving their stupid impromptu family. She was leaving the job, and when they knew her real reasons he really hoped that they would be alright with it. “You know where I live.”

“I promise my next visit won’t be at 3am.” Percy smirked a little, and Pride remembered the morning he’d gone downstairs to see Percy sound asleep on the sofa, given he’d only been in his boxers at that time he’d been very glad that she had been asleep. Though that day he had almost given them away inadvertently in his sleep deprived state.

LaSalle then gave Brody a look that even after 10 years Pride couldn’t quite read, and the question he asked maybe came out harsher than Pride would have expected it to. “You think you’re gonna make CGIS stick?” There was a sort of challenge, that she never seemed to make anywhere stick longer than a couple of years.

“I hope so, for a little while at least. It’s only a temporary assignment.” He knew that the rest of them were going to hear that and think that she might be able to come back into a few weeks or months or however long her assignment lasted. Pride knew better than that though, and even without their relationship he’d know that Brody had made her mind up, and she wouldn’t be back here professionally.

“So, are you coming back?” Pride wasn’t even sure which of them asked loudest, but three voices all asked her the same question as one. There was a look of panic registering on Brody’s face, and Pride thought that maybe he should save her as it was going to be better in the long run for all of them if Brody wasn’t going to murder them all. 

“Alright, we still have a case, let’s get out there. Chris, Sonja, rewalk the crime scene, see if there is anything we missed.” He decided that sending them to the scene was a better to keep Brody interviewing and doing what she was good at, especially as she was clearly planning to eat until they got there. “You and I have a family to go speak to again.”

“Sure thing King.” LaSalle smiled, then just started out with Percy following him and shrugged softly. Patton turned back to his office and at that point Pride just lead Brody out, leaving her to be quiet as long as she needed. LaSalle had seemed a little accusatory, and possibly Brody was feeling that she was under too much pressure here. She was so quiet, and it really wasn’t actually like her all that much. He was worried that she was upset, but he had no idea how to bring it up.

But of course, Brody brought it up first. She was getting much better at opening herself up to him, something she’d always had issues with. “You know I hate all of this, I hate that Chris is mad at me and that Sonja is upset and that I am gonna leave here.” She ended up saying, so she’d actually noticed LaSalle’s comment too. He was going to have to make sure that he spoke to LaSalle about it. “I know I’m doing it for the right reasons, but I also… don’t want my friends to be mad at me.”

“This won’t last much longer, Merri.” He reassured her, because it was all that he could really do. Quite a lot of this was probably actually the anticipation of her leaving, so it would get easier once she’d actually gone. “In one week you’ll be starting over there and we can think about telling them.” He wasn’t sure if she wanted to say it yet, but it would at least be an option once they were no longer working together.

“Think about it?” She asked, and the smile on her face made him realise that she was just as ready as he was to tell everyone that they were married and very, very happy together. That was exactly what Pride had wanted pretty much since the day they’d exchanged their vows, and he was so happy that they were again on the same page.

“The day you leave we’ll tell them, OK, we’ll tell them.” He grinned happily, wondering what else they could do that would happen through all of this. They had a life to look forward to together, and that included telling their friends and everything else that was going to happen in relation to that.

Clearly, Brody really wanted to be certain about it, and to make sure that he was just as certain. They both really needed that, but it was clear, right now, that they did agree. “You sure you ready for that? They might not be good with it.” He was actually expecting LaSalle to be a little off about it at first, but he’d come around, he was sure.

“We’ve been married more than 2 months, Merri. I want to be able to tell them all about it.” What man didn’t want to show off the woman he loved, and sure he’d been married before, but  with Linda it had never been quite such a whirlwind. This was the happiest he’d been in a very long time, and he didn’t think that was going to change any time soon. “So we’ll deal with it, together we’ll deal with it.”

“So we have one week. Then we tell them.” She confirmed, clearly already impatient about the fact they were going to be able to tell their friends. Pride just wanted her to be happy, so he would support her no matter what. Even if it seemed like a stupid idea to him, he was going to support her.

“One week, I think you can last that long.” He commented with a loud laugh. It was obvious that Brody thought it was funny too, as she laughed just as hard as he did.

“I think I can too.” She laughed, and as he pulled up outside the victim’s home Brody switched back to her  ‘work’ mode, and after another moment he made the mental switch. They needed to work, and see Brody through until the end of her tenure with NCIS. She was ready to move on, and he was excited for her adventure.


	31. Chapter 31

The day had seemed to go much more calmly than LaSalle had actually thought it would. Last days rarely went to plan, in his experience, so he’d been kind of expected today to be a shitshow, but it hadn’t been. They hadn’t got a new case, and it was official now that Brody was no longer an NCIS agent. He hadn’t actually seen her much today, as she and Pride had needed to go through the official things with her instead. Now though he walked in and slid onto the stool beside him. “How was your last day?”

“Bittersweet, honestly.” Brody’s response was also almost exactly as he’d expected too. LaSalle couldn’t really imagine actually leaving NCIS, no matter what was going on in his life. He had given his life to this agency and he couldn’t imagine a reason to leave. Judging by the look on Brody’s face she couldn’t really believe it either. “I never thought I’d leave NCIS.”

“Then why are you doing it?” He couldn’t help but ask it. If she never thought she’d leave he didn’t understand exactly why she was leaving. Maybe there were other questions, other reasons, but without her telling him why then he couldn’t even begin to guess at how to go about it.

“I’m doing it for a good reason, one I haven’t said yet.” Brody said, and LaSalle turned to her a little more trying to work out what that meant. Brody was not normally the type to be cryptic, but apparently today that was what she was going to do. “I’m gonna tell later tonight. I want to tell everyone all at once.”

“Oh, is it good news at least?” He asked with a smile, thinking that if she wasn’t breaking down about it then it probably wasn’t a bad thing. All he really wanted for her was that she was happy. She deserved happiness more than probably anyone else he’d ever met, the universe had not been kind to her.

“I think it is. God Chris, I’m still gonna need you around.” She leant against his arm a moment and groaned, and LaSalle actually couldn’t help but smile. Brody didn’t touch people often, and when she did it was a sign that she truly trusted them. She then pulled back and took another sip of her drink before looking to him. “You decided about what to do with Sonja?” Well, wasn’t that a more difficult question to answer.

“She made it clear, she wants nothing to do with me, she wants us to be just friends. So I backed off, we’re just partners again, nothing more.” He admitted, and that definitely wasn’t exactly what he wanted. He already knew that he cared about Percy an awful lot more than he was ready to admit to anyone.

“You two are such idiots! I swear.” Brody groaned out loud then looked at him a little longer, shaking her head a little. He wondered what it was that had convinced her that that was a worthy reaction, but clearly something had. “She loves you, you love her, and yet here we are with you two pretending you’re doing the right thing.” 

“What makes you think we aren’t?” LaSalle wasn’t really sure where Brody was getting her information from, or why she seemed to have decided that she knew what was better for them than they thought. Brody wasn’t exactly the best one for actually acting on something that could be good for her. All he needed to do was look at Pride for that, and he had no real idea how the two of them were living together given how they clearly felt about each other.

Obviously though, Brody thought she knew what was happening, and she wanted things to be better for all of them, but it wouldn’t be, not as long as LaSalle was playing second chair. “Because in the long run you’re all going to get hurt. You, Sonja and Deena.”

“Like you can speak, you and Pride have been dancing around each other since the day you arrived yet you’ve always run off with whatever guy was interested in you that week. Gibbs, Wilkins, James, Gatornation and…” He was stopped by Brody kicking him hard in the shin, and he actually realised what he’d just been about to talk about. Even he had to admit, no matter how defensive he was that was an asshole mood, but he was still a mad.

“I swear to god LaSalle if you throw Russo in my face again your relationship problems will disappear because you will be dead, and I don’t mean figuratively dead, I mean dead dead.” For the first time since he’d met her, LaSalle realised that Brody was not making an idle threat. She was going to kill him if he continued on that line. While he accepted he maybe went too far, he also knew that he was right.

“I’m not wrong though, am I? You were running away from King and it put you there.” He snapped, and now he could tell that they were both just angry at each other. Possibly he should have stopped, he should have just ignored Brody’s relationship history, but it was an easy way to attack her, even if it was terrible. “So why do you keep pushing me to do something that you haven’t done yourself.”

“You know what LaSalle, screw you.” LaSalle watched as Brody put her glass down then just walked along the bar to where Pride was listening to the music playing on the stereo behind him and absent-mindedly drying a glass. She then just took his chin and stepped on her tiptoes to kiss him deeply. It was clear that this was not a new development, and he suddenly thought that he might have been right all along. When their kiss ended LaSalle noted that his long-time friend looked the happiest he could remember as he looked at Brody, and in truth that was enough to make him sorry that he’d been so rude. “We’ve been married for three months, Chris, you were right all along.”

“I thought we were going to tell them all together.” Pride said after wiping Brody’s lip gloss off his lips. LaSalle was still just completely speechless, so he was quite happy that Pride was the one talking and that he didn’t need to think about how to reply just yet. He really shouldn’t have said what he did.

“So did I but Chris was being an asshole.” Brody replied, and then her face blanched again, the way they’d all sort of got used to seeing over the last few weeks, as it generally happened at least once a day. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m gonna go throw up.” With that she just ran toward the bathroom, leaving Pride and LaSalle watching her go.

“Is she still sick?” LaSalle wondered what on earth it was that was making her sick. It didn’t seem like anyone else had picked it up, and it was more than a little worrying that she seemed to be staying so sick while nobody else had even had so much as an upset stomach over the last couple of months.

“She can’t seem to shift this stomach flu.” Pride watched her go then actually turned his attention back to LaSalle, and it was only then that LaSalle realised he was probably going to be asked what it was that he and Brody had been discussing that meant that she was so angry she’d out her relationship. Honestly there was no real defence for him either. “Do I want to know what you were being an asshole about.”

He sighed, trying to think of a way to explain that he wasn’t trying to be an asshole, he was just reacting angrily and being a bit of an asshole about it. “I threw Russo in her face, I was… mad, defensive… But I still shouldn’t have done it. I think I really hurt her.” He was actually pretty certain that he had hurt her, and he hated that but he always couldn’t pretend that he regretted it. He didn’t.

“Russo is a sore topic with her. She still blames herself for everything that happened with him.” Pride’s revelation was possibly the least surprising thing he’d ever heard, especially in regards to Brody. They all knew that she took things to heart and blamed herself for many years.

“You really been married for 3 months?” LaSalle had to ask, because he just couldn’t imagine that Pride had got married again after the fallout of Linda leaving. LaSalle had known that Brody was at least a part of that, as once she had arrived in New Orleans Pride had stopped fighting as hard to make it work, and from the first day it had been clear that she and Pride had a connection. “Like, actually married?”

“Yep, since the second weekend in June.” That rang a bell, and LaSalle needed to sit and think about why his mind was saying that he knew this. June seemed like a long time ago, and he couldn’t even remember the cases that they had had back in June. All of a sudden there was a bell in his head and he knew.

“When we got that case and you and Merri had been at that wedding?” He’d been suspicious at the time. He’d had no idea what it was at the time that had made him so sure that it was their wedding, but he had. Then nothing had changed and neither had worn wedding rings, so he’d been talked into believing that he was wrong. He actually couldn’t even be mad about that.

“Yeah. It was our wedding, but because of the appropriateness of our relationship being questionable at best…“ Pride trailed off and LaSalle realised why. Pride was the supervisory agent, and Merri was his field agent and his partner. It would have been a problem if it had come out while they were still working together, but now Brody had officially left. 

“So you hid it, I understand.” He really did. He wouldn’t have wanted either of his friends to have lost their job over this. Nobody could help who they fell in love with, and that including them as agents. That made him think about Percy again, and he wondered what would happen in that case. Would they get to the point where they might have to consider all of this.

“It was killing Merri to keep it from everyone, and me too, but not as badly.” That also didn’t surprise LaSalle, because now that Brody had opened up to all of them she didn’t like to have things closing her off again, while Pride was always slightly more hesitant. “As long as I had her at home every night I didn’t care that much.”

“She’s on her way back.” LaSalle nodded back toward where Brody was coming from the bathroom, looking less sick than when she’d left. Pride smiled a little and waved at the door, and LaSalle figured their team had all arrived now.

“And everyone else is here. So we should announce it now since you already know.” Pride said as he got off the stool while Brody arrived back at them, mostly just glaring in LaSalle’s direction. He was going to have to grovel to be forgiven in the end, he felt, and that was going to be more difficult than he wanted to admit.

“Think about what I said, Chris. I might not be as full of hot air as you think I am.” Brody’s parting comment as they motioned for their team to follow them to the top end of the bar got him thinking. Maybe the reason he’d been ignoring Brody’s advice was because he thought that she hadn’t done what she was saying. Now he was realising that she had done exactly what she’d been advising, and clearly she and Pride were happy. Maybe, just maybe, he and Sonja could be too.


	32. Chapter 32

Percy was just fed up now, in the two weeks since Brody had left and she and Pride had told them all that they were married. While Percy wasn’t entirely surprised about it, she was still mad that they’d lied to her and everyone else. Which had actually meant that Percy had ended up here at the gym every night. It was technically NOPD’s gym, but NCIS had permission to use it too. Really, the only thing making her feel anything at all right now was coming in here and pummelling the punching bag into submission. “You know, you can’t really hide from me.” She heard the voice from the doorway, and looking up she was unsurprised that LaSalle was the one there. 

“What are you doing here, Chris?” She had to ask, because there was really no reason for him to be there watching her. Percy knew that there were a lot of people who wanted to make sure she was OK, Pride had been asking her every day now for nearly 2 weeks, and she hadn’t known how to answer him. LaSalle, at least, was easier to deal with.

“Making sure you’re not getting yourself into trouble.” LaSalle said, still leaning against the doorway just watching her. She didn’t stop her activity for even a second, deciding to keep punching the bag and paying as little attention to LaSalle as she possibly could. She didn’t need him playing hero on it.

“Well you’ve checked, now can you just go?” She had to get him to leave, she just really didn’t want to think about what was bothering her, she didn’t want to have to say it. But Percy knew better than that, LaSalle wasn’t going to leave her alone until she at least managed to tell him that she really was OK, and she wouldn’t convince him of that until she’d told him what it was that was bothering her.

“Dinah said you’ve been here every night for two weeks.” Of course Dinah would have ratted her out when LaSalle asked about it. She’d known him longer, and maybe, there was a possibility, that she wasn’t coping with this as much as she liked to pretend that she was. “Since Merri left.” 

“Why does that matter?” Already LaSalle was hitting far too close to home. He was going to know exactly what was bothering her. Maybe not the details, but enough that LaSalle would prod her about Merri. Percy had never, literally never, gotten this close to her co-workers. Then she had, and one had fallen for her and the other left her. 

“What is even going on with you?” He demanded a second later, actually coming into the gym now and letting the door shut behind him. At that Percy dropped her gloves and shook her head a little, not wanting to answer the question but knowing that it wasn’t going to stop LaSalle from pushing. “Do you hate Merri for leaving that much?”

“You mean other than my friend leaving the team because she lied to us for months about being married  _ to our boss _ isn’t a reason to be angry.” She snapped, and realised immediately that she’d given herself away. Percy had already said too much and LaSalle now knew exactly what it was that was bothering her most.

“Don’t you want them to be happy?” That seemed like far too open a question, and Percy needed to think of it. So she just stopped talking, she didn’t want to say anything before she’d truly thought it through. LaSalle already knew her far, far too well, and Percy was fairly certain that he’d figure something else out. “Don’t you care that they did what was best for them?”

LaSalle had a point there, but Percy was far too angry to think about it, and she didn’t really know what to do about that. “Sure, I just don’t like being lied to. For months!” She snapped, because that made her far too angry and she was not at all happy about the fact that LaSalle didn’t seem to be anywhere near as angry as she was about that fact. “Aren’t you mad about that?”

“I am, but at the same time I also know why they did it.” LaSalle frowned a little, watching her as they argued. Percy hated that LaSalle was this close to her, but he wasn’t going to give up. “I just want them all to be happy, and I want them to know that even though Merri isn’t on our team any more that we’ve still got her back.” That seemed far too easy for her, why should she have Brody’s back now.

“What if I don’t?” That was the only way that she was going to say it properly. Percy just wasn’t sure how to deal with this. Only because she had trusted Brody, she’d been her friend and confidante, and now she had as good as disappeared, at least professionally. Percy knew that they’d still see her, but it wasn’t going to be the same and she needed to get used to that.

“She’s done more for you than you realise, Sonja.” She stopped at that and dropped everything else that she was doing. Other than the obvious, Percy couldn’t actually think of much that Brody had done, and now she was mad at LaSalle for just blindly being on her side. Sure, he’d known Brody longer, but she was his partner!

“What exactly has she done for me, tell me that?” She snapped loudly, moving closer to him as she said it. It was far too hard for her to actually say for sure if she was just being angry rather than actually having a reason to be as angry as he was.

“She’s been there! Who is the person you go to when you have a problem, when you need advice? Who is the one at the end of every day to give you advice and help when you need it.” LaSalle now sounded as angry as she was. He seemed to be so sure, but really everything he’d said was more him than Brody, at least now. So that was the easiest answer.

“You!” She shouted back, moving closer to him again. Percy was angrier now about LaSalle than she was about Brody. Which was making things more difficult for her and she was pretty certain that one day she was just going to be angry at everyone about everything. That actually made more sense to her, just being angry.

“We both know that’s shit.” LaSalle shouted back and Percy had to take a step back, because she hadn’t expected for him to call her out on that quite so quickly. “I’d love for it to have been me, but for the most part it hasn't been and we both know it.” Staring at LaSalle, Percy knew that he was right.

“So I can’t be mad about it?” She breathed out deeply and just shook herself to try and get it all out of her head. Alright, LaSalle had definitely figured things out, and she couldn’t keep fighting with him about it. Though, she wasn’t absolutely certain that she could forgive, she could move on. 

“You can be mad about it, but you gotta get over it.” LaSalle snapped again, and Percy just held her hands up and tried to make sure that he knew she wasn’t going to fight this any more. “It isn’t our lives that are affected by this. They are happy, and that matters most to me.” She actually was happy that Brody and Pride were happy, she was just mad that they’d been lying to them about it.

It was time for her to allow that it was her problem. “OK so, I admit… I’m possibly being an ass about this… but I just can’t seem to get it out of my head like…” She really wanted to be getting through all of this but all she could think about was how she’d depended on Brody, and all the time Pride was in her bed feet away. “I’ve been going to her with all my problems and the whole time she’s been fucking King.”

“She hasn't told him anything about what’s going on with us.” Clearly LaSalle knew what she was thinking, what she was worried about, and that made her wonder how LaSalle knew, on both counts. Of course she didn’t have to ask either though. “I know that because he keeps asking me about it, and I know because I know you.”

“Chris.” She started, then she realised exactly what was going on in her mind. She needed to push on from Pride and Brody and think about her. Think about what she wanted and where her relationship with LaSalle was going to go. She knew that that should be her priority right now. “What is going on with us?”

“What do you mean?” He looked confused, and she didn’t blame him, only because she had jumped to that very quickly from where she’d been. A minute ago she’d been complaining about Brody and Pride being married and she’d jumped to her relationship with LaSalle, and given she technically still had a girlfriend this was probably crossing a line she shouldn’t be crossing.

“One minute we seem to be OK and then the next we’re awkward again.” She really wasn’t sure about what was going on between them, though she was feeling better about them now. The OK moments were now beginning to outweigh the awkward moments. That was all she’d wanted for the last 4 months, so now she felt like maybe things were working out. “I just want everything to go back to how it was a few months ago.”

He just sighed and looked at her and she started to mentally panic about what he was actually going to say. “Look, Sonja I love you. I know I shouldn’t say that and you have a girlfriend but… there you are I said it.” He stopped and she just ended up stood there staring at him for a few moments because that was the last thing that she had expected. “So, take from this what you want.”

“Deena and I are having problems.” She admitted, and she had no idea why she had. It was the truth, but LaSalle hadn’t really needed to know about it, but it was easier to tell him than she had expected. “We’ve only been together a couple of months and we’re already like this. Probably a sign we shouldn’t be together.” Percy almost couldn’t believe she was admitting that to him of all people.

“Don’t break up because of me.” LaSalle said, finally moving away from the punching bag that he’d been to one side of and then he shrugged. He obviously didn’t quite know exactly what it was that had possessed her to tell him what was going on in her relationship either. “I’m not worth that.”

“That wouldn’t happen. But I don’t think that we’re gonna make it.” This was it, she’d clearly now decided that her relationship with Deena wasn’t all that salvageable. That was really sad for her, but at the same time she didn’t really regret it at all. Deena was great, but she deserved someone who just wanted her, not anyone else. 

“I’m sorry, Sonja.” LaSalle said quietly, which was just enough for Percy to feel like she might not have made the right decision, or started herself on the road to that decision. It was something she needed to decide so that she and LaSalle could figure out where they were too.

“I’m not.” She was honest about the fact she just wasn’t that sad about the potential demise of her relationship. Right now it actually mattered so much more that she and LaSalle could work out the problems in their partnership. She didn’t think she could lose both her girlfriend and her partnership in one year. “We can work this out, right?” 

“We can. But go home, Sonja.” That sounded like an order, and normally she’d argue with him about that. Tonight though she had to admit that maybe he had a point. She’d been spending too much time at this gym and very little of her time was being spent at home. “I’m gonna ban Dinah from letting you in here.” He teased, and she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“That’s just mean, but OK. I’ll go home.” It was going to be one way to keep her at home though, because this was the only place that she went other than her home, work and the bar, which all helped her feel like this was probably a good plan. She should be at home more though, to get over everything.

“Call me later if you still need to talk.” LaSalle offered, and Percy just smiled, starting to gather her things up, as that was all she needed before she was going to be ready to go home. 

“I will, thanks.” Percy just had to let all this go, and she really needed to sort this out in her head, because she really needed to actually get it away. It was a lot easier to fight it out, but LaSalle was right. She needed to just be happy for Brody, and she needed to forgive her for doing what’s right. On top of that, she really needed to decide about LaSalle, and Deena. But the deciding factor now seemed to be over.


	33. Chapter 33

It had been a very, very long couple of weeks and Brody was not entirely sure she was settling into this job. She’d never actually been seasick before, and now she could barely even look at a boat without feeling queasy. That was making her current partner think it was hilarious, as she was so sick every time she moved. “I swear, all I do is throw up right now.” She decided to start the teasing, though right now she was beginning to think it may have been an actual problem. 

“Are you pregnant?” Borin asked, looking over to Brody a moment and shrugged. Brody had never even considered that as being a possibility. It was just the stomach flu. “Feeling faint, headaches, throwing up…” She continued, and Brody just ended up stood there shaking her head out of denial.

“What? No.” She shook her head and frowned even more, because she refused to admit that being pregnant was actually a possibility. She had to admit that neither she nor Pride were great about using protection, yet they’d still never spoken about it. “It’s just the stomach flu. I can’t seem to kick it.” 

“Well, you wear a ring so you’re married now.” Of course Borin hadn’t seen her since she and Pride had gotten married. In fact, every time they’d met until recently she’d been totally single. Mostly out of her own actions. But it had been almost 18 months since they’d worked together. “You could be pregnant, right? I mean, we’ve all noticed you never stop eating.” 

“Shit.” Even she now had to admit that the evidence was against her. If it was anyone else she would have assumed they were pregnant, but she’d refused to think about that and stuck to her thought of it being the stomach flu. “I’ve only been married three months, I’m not sure that we’re ready for pregnancy.”

“Maybe you need to grab a test.” That really didn’t seem like a suggestion, and Borin had dropped her voice so that nobody else would be able to easily overhear this conversation, and for that Brody would be eternally grateful. While she was really glad about the fact there was no question about what she needed to do, she wished it wasn’t entirely necessary. “Who even did you marry, last time we talked about this you said you didn’t date?”

“You won’t even believe me if I say.” Brody was certain of that, because it seemed like nobody who had known her for a long time really actually believed that she’d married her boss. Now that she was 4 months into their relationship she actually couldn’t be happier about it.

“Try me?” Borin challenged, and the look on her face made it obvious that she thought she couldn’t be surprised by who the daddy was. This was going to be really amusing for Brody, especially since Brody knew that Borin had known Pride for a very long time and they knew a lot about each other.

“Pride. I married Pride.” She laughed, then pulled the picture of them on their wedding day up on her phone to show when Borin was over the shock. It was going to take a few minutes though, and that was almost certainly going to make Brody laugh even more. The look on Borin’s face was worth all of this.

“Wait, what? As in Dwayne Pride, about this high,” Borin held her hand at about Pride’s height, clearly still living in that moment of utter surprise that seemed to accompany her pronouncement no matter where she gave it. “NCIS agent, owns a bar in the Quarter.”

Borin still explaining Pride and who he was was actually just making Brody laugh hysterically. Holding her phone out she then smiled at the picture, as it really was perfect, even though most of their friends hadn’t been there. “Yeah, one and the same.” She grinned, glad that she didn’t seem to hate the idea.

“How did  _ that _ happen?” Alright, that level of shock had also been common. Percy had asked that, as had Patton, but Brody was actually pretty sure that they had both known it was coming somehow. At least LaSalle had known what was coming, and Brody had loved that. “I knew you two were close but not  _ that _ close.” Last time Borin had been around their team, they hadn’t been even close to this. But things had changed a lot in the last year.

“It wasn’t planned but after the case in May he was right there for me, the whole time, and it just grew from that.” She didn’t want to say that she almost broke down on him in Florida, or that he hadn’t wanted to let her fall and that was how they’d ended up kissing to begin with. “The marriage was a little… impulsive, but it’s worked perfectly.”

“Well, I’m actually happy about that, you both deserve to be happy.” Borin patted her arm then pulled back, thankfully remembering that Brody didn’t like to be touched much without inviting it. At that moment Borin clapped her hands, and Brody realised that she’d been hoping that the conversation had made her forget about the next step. “Now, about that test…”

“I have to work.” She commented, not wanting to leave work too early and make it look like she couldn’t do this job. That was the last thing that anyone would want when they were starting a new pathway. Brody was sure that someone would decide that she didn’t actually have the stones for this job if she left. 

“You’re on a research trip, I’ll cover for you.” Borin smiled and waved her off. At that point Brody actually couldn’t say no, especially when Borin continued talking to tell her that it was time to go and do this. “Go buy a test, go home, call Pride, celebrate having little surprise babies.”

“Thanks, Abby.” She said and smiled then just left. She needed to get this out of the way now that it had been pointed out to her. If she wasn’t pregnant she would talk to Loretta, and if she was pregnant… Well that was going to be strange and she wasn’t sure they were ready for that, but since Pride already had a daughter she was a lot more confident than she normally would be.

An hour later she was sat on the sofa, a selection of positive tests on the coffee table while she waited on Pride getting home from work. The call she’d left was more than a little panicked, because this meant that they were almost certainly going to be parents together. “Hey, your call sounded urgent, you OK.” Pride was jumpy, and Brody couldn’t blame him, she made it seem like something was bad.

“Yeah, Dwayne I…” She started then pulled him to sit beside her on the sofa, because she truly believed that he needed to be sat down for this. She’d wished that she’d been sat down for it too. She actually was still so surprised about the fact that this was really happening to them.

“What?” He was being so patient with her, and she was pretty sure that she was just a jittery, terrified mess. Even though it had been two weeks since they’d announced their marriage she was still always happy when she saw his wedding ring, and in this situation having that to play with helped her focus on what she needed to say.

So she had to try and just say it as simply as possible, so she smiled a little and looked at him then took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.” She gave a little shrug and smiled as she let him begin to absorb that news. 

“Wait, what?” He was still completely shocked and surprised about it, and the look on his face made it even better. It was similar to the look Borin had given her when Brody had said that she’d married Pride, and the fact that was the equivalence made her laugh even harder. He did not seem to be taking it in at all.

“I… erm… well we’re going to be parents.” She just said it that way, and finally the shocked look on Pride’s face started giving way to a wide smile, and he clearly knew that she wasn’t teasing him. She was actually pregnant and this was actually happening. That seemed like he was happy about it at least.

“How did you find that out?” Even though he was smiling widely he clearly wondered how she was doing this, how it had even come to her that she actually might be pregnant, and he would probably find it amusing how it had happened and who had been the one who had pointed it all out to him.

“Well, think how long Chris has been teasing me about always eating, and how long that stomach flu lasted.” She now actually didn’t think she’d had stomach flu at all, because she didn’t think it would hang around for two months. “Borin noticed it today, saw my wedding ring. Pointed out I could be pregnant.” Borin had been right, and Brody was going to have to thank her in the morning, then try and figure out what she was going to do. “All I needed to do was look at the boat and I needed a bucket.”

“So you took a test?” That was how easy it was for Pride to know what she would have done the minute that something was pointed out to her as being a possibility. The tests were on the table, a selection of them anyway, and as she looked at them she realised they were all giving a strong positive.

“Yes. Well I took seven, but I just have three here.” She nodded to the table to see Pride looking over the small sticks that she’d peed on. “So now I just have to make all the arrangements and honestly I have no idea what to do first.” Brody knew there was a lot that a new expectant mom needed to do but she had no idea what that was.

“Possibly finding an OB is the best bet, they can guide you through everything else.” Pride, of course, was giving her the best advice. She knew that that was something she was going to have to do. He then just smiled at her and leant forward to kiss her deeply. She was just as happy as he suddenly seemed to be too. “I can’t believe it.”

“Me either.” She really couldn’t believe that they were going to have a baby, they needed to get things going, but now she knew they would actually have to have the conversation about having a family, because they had never even thought about children or anything else. It had been all too fast for that to have that conversation. “We’ve never even spoken about having a family.”

“Do you want a family?” Pride asked the real question, since he had heard part of the conversation about how she hadn’t wanted children. She still hadn’t been sure about having children. Largely it was because of work, but also because she just wasn’t at all sure that she would be a good parent. That didn’t stop how she felt about this.

“I… I didn’t know until I was faced with it…  but I think I really want this.” She smiled for a second then cuddled up to Pride for a moment. Admitting that she wanted this was a huge step for her, probably more than almost anything they’d had together so far. Brody had taken a lot of big steps since she’d moved to New Orleans, but this was the biggest so far.

At that, there were still obviously questions in Pride’s mind, and she just watched him as he tried to think about how to ask it. “The baby?” Pride seemed more concerned that she was going to change her mind on that, and it was probably a really fair question because she would have put money on herself changing her mind too.

“The baby, you, everything. I really want all of this.” Reassuring Pride that this was the life that she wanted, this was her home and everything was coming together for her now. “God, we’re going to be parents.”

“Yes we are. I love you, Merri.” Pride whispered quietly in her ear, holding her close to him as they were getting ready to just be calm and happy. She was going to be ready for this, she was going to be happy about it too. They were ready already, she hoped.

“I love you too. She smiled widely and just laid on his chest as they both thought about their situation for a few moments. They were about to have a baby, they were getting ready for this and Brody needed to prepare even more for it mentally. Everything was going to change, and she needed to get used to it. So many people still needed to know, but they could wait until they were ready.


	34. Chapter 34

Pride didn’t quite know what had possessed him to travel up to Baton Rouge this morning, but as soon as he turned on to Laurel’s street he knew that he’d come to tell her about Brody’s news. It was their news, really, but he kept thinking of it as Brody’s news only because it was happening to her. For him it was still mostly an idea, for the moment, and it seemed more like Brody would be the one bearing the brunt of the physical side of this giant leap forward they were making. He took a deep breath then climbed up to Laurel's apartment, hoping beyond hope that she was in. “Hey daddy.” He heard through the intercom, and he just smiled again hearing those words.

“Hey baby, can I come in?” He didn’t want to just assume that he could walk right in, this was Laurel's home and it was up to her if she wanted to let him in. If she didn’t he would suggest them meeting somewhere else to talk, but he would rather do it here. He knew that here nobody would be able to overhear them unless they wanted them too.

“Uh, sure.” He heard the uncertainty in her voice, but it only took a moment for her to open the door and smile at him. Maybe she wasn’t as worried about having him in as he’d first thought, maybe he just worried more than he possibly needed to. “You up here for a reason?” Laurel asked, and he wondered for a second if she thought he was there to check up on her.

“I need to tell you something, and I wanted to do it in person.” Really, he couldn’t take not talking about this development with anyone. He needed to talk it over with someone and if he talked to Loretta she’d probably tell Brody almost immediately, and that would not end well for him with his wife.

“You and Merri haven’t split up already have you? Because I may be your daughter but I’ll have to kick you if you hurt her.” Laurel looked so angry in anticipation about that, and Pride had to be happy that his daughter was that protective of his wife that she was threatening to kick him if he hurt her. “She’s so broken dad, don’t be another person who leaves her.” Laurel sounded so earnest and concerned at that, but it concerned Pride on another level, that his daughter actually thought he was like that.

“I’m not… Do you really think I’m like that?” It seemed like a fair question, and he really wanted to know the answer. Did he seem like someone who would leave his wife after only three months. Given that he’d been with Laurel's mother for more than 20 years he wasn’t sure that he could really buy into that as a theory. When he committed he wanted it to last forever.

“Not entirely. But I know that it could happen with you, and with her.” Maybe Laurel was getting more at the fact that they both knew Brody had a habit of running, and maybe in the past Pride wouldn’t have been strong enough to pull her back. Now he was, and he had the best of reasons to keep Merri nearby.

“Well, no. Merri and I are fine. Better than fine.” He couldn’t help but burst into a smile as he thought about everything that was upcoming, everything that was going to make the next year of his life more interesting than he could have ever imagined. It also gave him the perfect way to tell Laurel, and he wondered if she’d appreciate it as much as he did. “Remember how you always asked about having a sibling?”

“Wait, wait.” Laurel held up her hands, catching on just as quickly as Pride had assumed she would. She was a clever girl, and she had been asking for siblings for as long as she’d been able to talk. This was twenty years overdue, but at least Laurel was finally getting the sibling she’d always been asking about. “Is she pregnant? Dad did you get Merri pregnant?”

Pride laughed at the fact Laurel phrased it like an accusation, and he didn’t blame her if she was a little angry for a time. Brody was only 17 years older than her, and he was a good ten years on top of that, but he couldn’t help that he’d fallen for Brody, and neither of them had ever planned for it to get here. “Well, she’s pregnant and I’m the only one she’s slept with.”

“I thought you and mom couldn’t have any more kids?” Laurel asked, clearly curious why she was getting a sibling now and not over the years that her parents had still been married. Pride hated, in some ways, that he and Linda had never been able to decide on kids, and he knew that his ex-wife would have some choice words when she found out that, not only was he married, but that he was adding to his family.

“Your mom didn’t want any more kids, I always wanted more.” That was the simple truth. No matter how much Pride had desperately wanted more children, Linda had been happy just having Laurel, and Pride hadn’t cared enough to push further. They’d had a beautiful daughter, and that was all he’d needed. “I wasn’t going to push your mom and she was never one to change her mind.”

“So now you barely get married and she’s already pregnant?” For a second, Pride couldn’t tell if Laurel was outraged or amused, until her face finally settled into a wide smile. That was all Pride needed, really, to tell him that his daughter was truly happy for him. He’d been so nervous about this, but he hadn’t needed to be. She was happy and going to be a big sister. “You must have strong swimmers dad.” She teased, and Pride just burst out laughing.

“You gonna be excited to finally be a big sister?” He was not going to talk about his swimmers with his daughter. No matter what that was a conversation he did not want to participate in, because he was certain she didn’t really want the image of what he and Brody did in their private time in her head.

“Yeah I’m a big sister at 21, you have a permanent on call babysitter.” Laurel managed to sound convincingly annoyed, and that gave Pride a second of panic, again, before she burst out laughing again. At this point Pride realised she was enjoying teasing her father more than actually giving him straight answers. “I’m kidding, dad. I’m really happy for you and Merri. You deserve to be happy and I’m a grown up now.”

“Laurel.” He scolded softly and shook his head as he did. He wanted to make her realise that no matter what happened, with him and Merri and their baby, Laurel was still going to be his baby too. She was his first child, and the one that made him a father and the man he was today. “You’re always gonna be my baby, even if I have other children.”

“That makes me feel great, dad.” Laurel smiled honestly, putting a hand on his cheek then giving him a tight hug. All he wanted was for Laurel to know that he was always going to be there for her, and he would try to never let her down. “I am just really glad that you and Merri are happy. Honestly that’s the important thing to me.”

“We are, she’s gonna kill me for telling you, though.” He knew Brody well enough to know that she was probably going to kill him, unless she was too tired from being pregnant to actually go through with it. “She’s a little paranoid about telling people since she’s still in the first trimester.” He was sure she had plenty of reasons for why, but he was just too excited to sit back while they waited for it to all happen. Brody and the baby were both going to be fine, but she needed to be the one to say it was all OK. Until then, Laurel was the only person he was going to tell.

Laurel, however, seemed to already know exactly why Brody was holding her peace, and it didn’t seem like anything that was going to change either of their minds. “That’s when things do go wrong. Tell her I know, but I won’t tell anyone. Not even Orion.” Pride couldn’t help but smiled more at that, as Laurel told Orion everything.

“Thanks baby. Come home soon, I’ll cook your favourite.” That was really his only request right now, as he found he was actually missing Laurel more than he’d expect given that she was a grown woman in her own right. Especially given that she could well be starting her own family soon and he was barely going to have his own, but as long as she was OK then he’d be happy. “I should probably get going home.”

“Sure dad, look I have a lot on this afternoon but I’ll come visit you and Merri soon, I promise.” He just nodded then kissed her forehead and smiled. He should get back given that he’d left Percy and LaSalle in the office, and they weren’t really used to being without Brody around the office yet even after two weeks.

After another few seconds, he set off home and went to work, and he was just glad when he got home at the end of the day. Almost every day he loved that as it meant he would be back with Brody. Tonight they had ended up curled in the bed, and as his hands landed on her stomach he couldn’t stop from wondering about when they were going to tell their friends. “When are we going to tell everyone?” Brody looked up and frowned a little as she thought, and Pride wondered what was going through her mind.

“In 10 days when I hit 13 weeks.” Brody clearly had a day picked out, and knowing her she was thinking of ways to make the announcement special. This was a huge step for them both and she’d want to prove this was what she wanted. Then a worried look crossed her face before she spoke again. “I’m 38, Dwayne. Most things that… go wrong… happen in the first trimester. I want to get through that clean, get that scan to prove that. Then we can have a party at the bar and announce it to everyone.”

“I told Laurel.” He decided to just be honest about it, rather than pretend he hadn’t and get Laurel to act surprised. Honestly it had been 48 hours, he was fairly sure that Brody would have expected him to have told Laurel by now.

“You told Laurel?” Brody’s chuckle proved to him that she had indeed been expecting it, and he was just glad that she didn’t seem at all as mad as he’d been expecting when it came to the fact that he’d blurted out their secret. Maybe she was too exhausted to kill him after all.

“I tell Laurel almost everything, you know that.” He just laughed softly then reached out and pulled Brody into his arms, wrapping his arms around her and kissed her temple. He knew that this was still taking time for her to get used to, but at least they seemed to know that they were wanting.

“I do. How did she take it?” Brody’s question was so sweet and honest he couldn’t help but lift her chin so he could kiss her softly and smile. He found it amazing that she actually cared about Laurel's reaction given that she was an adult and would have to get over it either way. Of course Brody would want for Laurel to be happy about it though.

“Well, she’s wanted siblings her entire life, so I think she’s glad to be getting them, even if it is 20 years late.” He just rested his chin on the top of Brody’s head and thought about the fact that they were going to be a family of three soon, at least. He knew enough that with a history of twins in her family, Brody having a multiple birth was also very possible.

Clearly, thinking about 20 years ago was making Brody laugh, as he could hear her sniggers as they stood in the quiet. He just pulled back and looked at her while she brought her giggles under control enough for her to actually be able to speak. “I was starting college 20 years ago. That’s a weird thought.”

“Weirder for me, I’m sure.” He smiled, trying not to think about the fact then when he had an 18-month old at home, Brody was only just starting at college. It wasn’t often that their 15 year age gap played on his mind,  but when she said things like that it swam up and slapped him in the face.

“We’re gonna be parents, Dwayne.” Brody suddenly said with a wide smile and a growl. Her whole reaction over the last 48 hours since they’d found out had been hilarious, and it had largely been her repeating that fact to herself at frequent intervals. But if it worked then he wasn’t going to complain.

“I know. I can’t believe it.” He smiled widely and nodded a little as he thought about how they had made it to this point, where they could be doing this at all. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve made it through everything and we’re at this point in our lives where we know we’re perfect together doing the right thing for us.”

“I’m still not always sure of that, but I know this is what I want right now.” Brody nodded herself then and looked up at him as if she just needed a little more reassurance. “That counts for something?” It was a question he was sorry she felt like she needed to ask, but he was glad that he could at least give her an answer.

“It’s everything, Meredith. It’s everything.” He assured her, then pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly against him. This was the perfect moment and he didn’t want for anything to interrupt them right now. If he got a case he was going to scream.

“I told my mother.” Brody slipped out as they stood together, and Pride released a bark of laughter he hadn’t even been sure he could let out. As much as she’d known he’d tell Laurel, he should have guessed that she’d tell Olivia. Those two had gotten a lot closer over the last year.

“I knew you couldn’t keep it just to yourself!” He exclaimed while trying to bring his laughter under control. “So I told Laurel and you told Olivia.” He counted, then just shook his head a little.

“Nobody else now. Not until we know.” Brody nodded then stepped up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. He then watched as she walked away and started asking for dinner, but really all he could think about was how lucky he was that this woman had decided to take a chance on him. Despite all of the problems they could have faced, she’d gone for him. Now they were taking all these giant steps, and he couldn’t believe he was that lucky. Yet here he was, and he was going to make sure that it all worked out for them both.


	35. Chapter 35

LaSalle felt like he should feel more guilty than he did when he, Percy and Patton ended up stood watching Brody and Pride arguing or talking in the courtyard from his desk, thought that didn’t seem to stop any of them from doing it whenever Brody came by to visit, which was a lot. “You know. I see Merri more than I did when she worked here.” Percy was the one who broke the silence, and given that LaSalle knew that she’d been having some issues accepting that relationship he knew that it was just seeming that way to Percy because she wasn’t used to it still so she was paying more attention to Brody’s visits. “OK, that’s an overstatement but not by much.”

“Hey, she and bossman are happy, that’s what matters right.” Patton replied faster, and it also made sense. Patton had actually known Pride longer than LaSalle had too. Pride did seem happy, happier than LaSalle could remember him being. Pride and Linda had been having problems as long as LaSalle had known him, but Brody seemed to understand Pride more than Linda had.

“He has a point Sonja.” He decided to make sure that she understood which side of this he was on, because Percy did have a habit of assuming that silent people were on her side. Percy also wasn’t sure how she felt about any of this, and that did mean that she was being kind of angry about all that was happening.

“You saying I don’t have a point?” Percy asked, and unsurprisingly LaSalle realised that she actually did have a point too. She wasn’t there more, but she was there as much now as she had been when they worked together. That was saying a lot about how much they were seeing her. 

“You have a point too.” He admitted while shaking his head softly. Really he just couldn’t imagine not seeing Brody at all, because she was something that actually made things a lot easier just by being in the general area. “She is spending a lot of time here, but I’m happy to see her.” He did imagine that her new team was missing her though.

“What do you think they are talking about?” Percy then asked, clearly deciding to deflect that conversation, since it would be a lot better if they didn’t get into an argument about Brody, as they’d already argued about this situation. LaSalle thought that Percy was just actually trying to start arguments.

“Married person stuff?” Patton hypothesised, and LaSalle wondered if that was something to do with the rumours that were bouncing around the agency since the truth about her relationship with Pride became public knowledge. 

“I heard she’s already transferring out of CGIS.” LaSalle decided that it would be best if he shared that bit of gossip, because it was something that was interesting in his mind, and it probably would be to Patton and Percy as well. Especially since it seemed like Pride was trying to convince her of something that she needed to do.

“Any reason why?” Patton asked, but both he and Percy were staring at LaSalle as if he’d grown another head. Given Brody’s habits it shouldn’t be so surprising, but he did have some ideas of what may have gone on, because he knew that there would have to be something that triggered this all off. He just didn’t know what they were.

“Personal obligations.” That was all that he’d been told, and he didn’t know what that actually meant. It was not the most descriptive of explanations for anything. “Though maybe her fear of open water played into it. Don’t think she could face being an agent afloat again. Especially now she’s married.”

Patton was clearly the one realising the implication that came with it, thought LaSalle was fairly sure it wasn’t going to be a thing. “She coming back here?” He asked, and Percy looked between the two of them as they were trying to think through whether or not they thought that Brody would actually rejoin their team.

“Nope, looks like she might be dropping to either NOPD or JPSO.” He wondered if either of those were true, because nearly all of this was just gossip. He didn’t even know whether or not any of this was true, but given that she was here most of the time he didn’t think that they were wrong.

“I can’t see her fitting in at JPSO. She’d do good with the NOPD though. Especially if they got her working with victims.” Percy of course could figure out what was going to be the best for Brody to do, but actually LaSalle agreed with her, as Brody would be amazing working with victims. 

“Think that’s what this fight is about?” LaSalle just asked, because he wasn’t sure what else they could be arguing about. Though, they had more friends in common outside of their team than the rest of them. More friends since they had a lot of mutual friends and through that they had even more mutual connections. That gave them things to argue about than LaSalle could even guess at.

“Maybe.” Patton agreed, and then after a few seconds he turned and looked between Percy and LaSalle then cooked his head to that curious angle he mostly used when trying to work something out. “What’s going on with you two anyway?” Wasn’t that the million dollar question? LaSalle himself didn’t know anymore.

“What? There is nothing going on.” Percy snapped almost immediately and LaSalle realised that she was still hung up on it. He didn’t blame her for breaking any potential off with them, and he was just glad that she was focusing on something that could make her happy. He didn’t care about anything else, he just cared that she was happy.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'd tell us anything. Look you may not be talking but we’ve all been listening, especially now that Deena ain't exactly in the best of moods about you two.” With that Percy just threw her folder at Patton and stormed off, somehow seeming more annoyed than Percy normally was. “Hey Sonja, it’s just a question!”

“What the hell man?” LaSalle grumbled as soon as Percy was fully out of earshot. He hadn’t seen her react like that in a long time, and the last time it had been about her drug dealing former best friend. Obviously there was something that was going on in Patton mind, or what inside information he had, but he knew that it was probably solid or he wouldn’t have ever mentioned anything. 

“Deena and Sonja are heading for splitsville according to Deena’s best friend.” Patton gave it out, and for a second LaSalle was just stood there in complete shock. he didn’t know why that seemed to be such a surprise to him, but it was. It seemed like only yesterday that she’d been telling him to back off so that she could focus on her relationship, yet if Patton had the information he was going to make the assumption that it was all for real. That whatever Percy had been doing hadn’t worked. Though it did raise the question of how Patton knew Deena’s friend.

“How do you know Deena’s best friend?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, though given who Patton was there were no doubt a dozen reasons that he would know people from, mostly just by being who he was. 

Patton however just laughed it off and shook his head a little. “Oh my man, you know I can’t reveal my sources.” That just had them both laughing loudly for a second before Patton gave in and actually gave a straight answer, which was never the easiest out of him when he wanted to keep something private. “Fine, she used to babysit for Rhonda when me and her mom were together. Known her since she was 15.” 

“That’s bad for Sonja.” LaSalle actually meant that, because it wasn’t really fair that Percy’s relationship was on the way out, as she actually did deserve to be happier than she was. Whatever LaSalle thought of their relationship, all he really wanted was for Percy to be happy, with him or with anyone else. He knew that not everyone could have their happy-ever-after’s but he had hoped that Percy would get hers.

“You really think Sonja was all in, when you two are… well you two?” Patton said, and the look he was giving looked as though Patton still couldn’t really believe that they weren’t together. In some ways, especially after what happened in May, LaSalle couldn’t either. but at the same time he knew that it wasn’t what Percy wanted.

“What do you mean by that?” He couldn’t help from asking even though he really knew the answer. Though maybe he didn’t know exactly what Patton saw. he knew what it felt like from the inside, and he was pretty sure most people knew Brody’s opinion on everything. When it came to gossip, Brody was not one to shy away from it.

“If you'd asked me last year who'd be married now… Brody and Pride would not have been my bet.” Patton grinned and shrugged. LaSalle was still amazed that so many people were surprised by the fact that Brody and Pride were together now. He’d known they were close, and when the partnerships separated the way they did he had known that there was something more going on. It had been particularly obvious in the run up to Russo, at least it had been to him.

“I still can’t really believe that nobody else saw them the way I do.” LaSalle just shrugged and laughed, wondering if it was maybe because he’d worked with them both before and after Percy arrival. The change had been subtle, but it had happened and he’d known they cared for each other in a different way.

“Yeah, you were the only one who saw that play coming.” That reminded LaSalle that he still had money owed to him on that bet. He’d have to remember to get it back off everyone later. “You and Sonja seemed more the type to make that kind of impulsive idea.” At that moment Patton claimed up and pointed a little behind them and nodded. “Heads up, the Prides are heading this way.”

“I have to go to this meeting, but I’ll be home tonight and we can continue this.” Brody said then kissed Pride and left him standing in the doorway as she smiled to the two guys in the bullpen. “Hey guys, I promise I’ll stop dropping in like this soon.” She promised, and LaSalle was actually a little sad to hear that, he liked Brody’s drop-ins.

“Merri you feel free to drop in whenever you can.” Patton took the words out of his mouth, but LaSalle found himself nodding excitedly beside his friend. He actually somewhat looked forward to Brody’s visits, it made it feel like she hadn’t ever actually left the team, especially those times she brought her paperwork and sat at her old desk. 

“Thanks P.” Brody smiled then turned her attention on to LaSalle, which actually made him worry for a moment given that he didn’t think he’d made her angry today. “Chris, you and me gotta talk, call me tonight when you get home.” She then looked at her watch and turned on her heel back toward the door before calling over her shoulder. “Gotta go, Dwayne please don’t forget that Sprite on your way home please..”

LaSalle was still watching her out the door then he turned to Pride and shrugged a little, more out of confusion than anything else. “You know if she wasn’t married to you I would feel like I’m about to be broken up with.” He had only ever heard those words out of ex-girlfriend’s on their way to break up with him. 

“That’s still a possibility.” Patton teased then looked out toward the courtyard, clearly realising that Percy wasn’t coming back until Patton had disappeared or said sorry for being an asshole, and at times that was not easy for Patton to do, LaSalle knew that. “I’m off to apologise to Sonja.”

“What went on there?” Pride asked as LaSalle just chuckled watching him wheel himself out of the main office. Shaking his head a little he just sighed and wondered how he could explain it to Pride without telling him the whole sad story. He didn’t need to know any of this, not really. 

“P was being a little insensitive.” That was the only way to explain it, he thought. One day this would all come out, but hopefully once they’d all worked out what they were going to do next. “Any idea what Merri needs to talk to me about?” That was something he was very interested in, especially since he thought that everything NCIS related she’d go through Pride for.

“She needs a second reference. Obviously I can’t give it, but you were technically the senior field agent.” LaSalle paused at that for a moment, why would she need another reference. She’d just started a great new job and she was clearly good at it, as she’d always been a great agent. So LaSalle wasn’t sure how to take that request. Thinking on it he realised there was only one reason.

“She leaving CGIS? After less than a month?” He never really imagined Brody as being a quitter, but unless she had a damn good reason there was no reason he could see why she would be leaving CGIS. She was too good an agent to be wasting it where she wouldn’t see much action.

“Unexpected circumstances.” Pride answered, and LaSalle knew him well enough to know that he was hiding something. What it was he couldn’t even guess, but he was willing to bet that that was part of why Pride and Brody seemed to be needing more middle-of-the-day discussions recently. “We’re hoping she can get a better offer here in the city.” 

“Who is her first?” He jumped back in the conversation a little, being curious who her first reference was if it couldn’t be Pride. She didn’t have another supervisor here, and Vance rarely gave recommendations for agents outside of DC. Though there were no doubt plenty of people Brody knew who would step up for her.

“Agent Gibbs. She’s known him her entire career. He’s a good choice for giving a full reference, but you'd be her most recent.” OK that did actually make total sense, he always forgot that Pride wasn’t the only one who had known Gibbs a long time, but that Brody had too. At that moment there was a crash from another room, and it seemed to jolt them both out of the conversation. “Go check that Sonja hasn't murdered Patton.”

  * “Good call.” He had to admit that finding out whether Percy was going to be done for murder was important. On top of that he needed to stop thinking about what could possibly be going on to force Brody to move on from CGIS already. It would all become evident in time, he was sure.




	36. Chapter 36

Percy had promised to be at Deena’s hours ago, but she’d ended up staying at work longer than she maybe should have as she was doing paperwork with LaSalle. Given that she'd known she had a date night tonight that had probably been a bad choice, but she’d still done it. When he finally dropped her off she already knew there was going to be something said, but she hadn’t expected it to be the first thing out of Deena’s mouth. “Your work husband bring you home again?” It was simultaneously a question and an accusation, and Percy really wasn’t in the mood.

“Dee don’t start on that again.” Maybe she couldn’t head it off, but she was going to try her hardest to do just that. She just wanted to try and get through tonight, but there was something in the back of her mind that felt different, and maybe it was the vibe that Deena was exuding.

“I’m not it’s just… since Merri transferred out you two seem to have gotten closer again, and you’re not spending as much time away from work as you were until a month ago.” Deena had clearly been thinking about this for a while if she knew when things had changed, not that Percy blamed her entirely.

“We’ve had a load of cases recently, I haven’t had chance to get home, let alone here or the bar.” It wasn’t a lie, not entirely. They had had cases, but it was the normal amount. They just weren’t quite so used to doing them with only three agents. Percy didn’t know if Pride was going to request a replacement from DC, but in some ways she hoped he didn’t, they’d work things out on their own.

“Yet the rest of your team haven’t changed at all. They are still in and out of the bar, they all still go home.” Deena had become close with most of her team, she knew that, but obviously Deena was keeping closer tabs than Percy had even realised if she knew who was home or at the bar. “All but LaSalle.”

“Are you claiming that I’m spending my time with Chris?” Percy snapped, unsure why she was so irrationally annoyed about that implication. It was more that Deena was implying more was going on than was. Since that one night, that Percy hadn’t told Deena about yet and probably never would, she and LaSalle had barely seen each other.

“I think the more important question is, are you?” Deena didn’t sound angry or even all that interested, she just sounded resigned, as though Percy was never going to tell her the truth no matter the question asked. It wasn’t true but in some ways she could understand why Deena thought that way.

“No, I’m not!” Even though she understood, she didn’t like being accused. It wasn’t what Deena thought, it was all about work. At least now it was. They were covering more for Pride since the news of Merri leaving CGIS after less than a month had come to them all. Percy was also a little hurt that Deena didn’t believe when she said. “Do you even trust me?”

“When it comes to Chris LaSalle? Not even a little.” Well, that hurt even more. Weren’t relationships built on love and trust. If there were caveats to that trust how did the relationship continue. It was surely broken if there was even a little break in trust.

“If you don’t trust me what are we even doing here?” Percy felt like that question was going to change the course of her relationship. She didn’t like that, not really, but it was a question they needed to ask, and that she needed the answer to. Because the truth was Percy didn’t know where to go from here if the trust was gone.

Deena seemed to go quiet for far longer than Percy would have expected, and that probably should have been a sign of what she was thinking, yet it was still a surprise to Percy when she started talking. “I’ve been asking myself that a lot lately. You know… we’ve been together for four months but I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to know you really at all.”

“What are you talking about?” Percy just didn’t understand what it was that Deena was saying, and she didn’t understand why it was such a big deal regardless. They hadn’t known each other for long, not really, and it took Percy a long time to open up to anyone, regardless of who they were.

“I’ve been thinking a lot the last couple of weeks, Sonja, and I think I’m done. I can’t do this.” Deena just sighed and as she did it was as if she deflated. It was a defeated look, and Percy frowned to herself as she saw it. “I worry about you when you’re at work, but not much differently to how I worry about King and Merri. I think we’re better as friends.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” That was the only way Percy could take that sentence. She didn’t want to think about ending things with Deena, but it did seem like they were possibly at the end of the road and they needed to go their own ways. They needed to focus on themselves.

“I… I think I am, yeah.” Deena nodded, and where Percy may have been expected to fight for the relationship usually, she just felt mild surprise that one of them had finally decided to actually lock things up and make a decision. 

“Oh.” She stared at the floor a moment, thinking of what she could actually say to change Deena’s mind. When she realised she didn’t have a good reason why this was the wrong thing she knew it was, actually, the right thing to do. It was sad, but it was the right thing. 

“You don’t seem that upset about it.” Deena’s statement was also accurate. She wasn’t that upset about it, really it just felt entirely inevitable. There were so many things that could have been different, but they weren’t, so they were where they were. Percy just lifted her eyes to finally meet Deena’s and just shrugged.

“I think… I knew it was coming. I tried to pull back from him Dee, I swear I did.” Percy promised, and she really had. She remembered the ultimatum she’d given him not that long ago, and he had actually stuck to that. He hadn’t pushed her, and things had gone back to how they’d been before. That was where the problems had started.

“I believe you. You can’t help who you fall for.” Deena shrugged, seeming more sympathetic than Percy would have been if the situation was reversed.  “We had a good run, and we’re probably better off as a friends.”

“I’d say. I think I’m going to go.” There was no point in her staying if they were calling things a day. In fact, that would just make things a lot more awkward. She could leave and go and figure out her next moves. 

“Yeah, it might be the best idea.” Deena smiled and watched her as Percy pulled away. Reaching out she squeezed Deena’s shoulder, hoping that it was taken how it was meant, as a sign that she wished her well. “I’m going to visit my parents for a couple of weeks, so we can work things out.”

“Yeah. I really just want you to be happy, Dee.” It seemed like the right thing to say at the end of a relationship, regardless of the type of break-up. Deena deserved someone who could give her all the attention she deserved, Percy was sad that wasn’t her.

Deena’s expression was soft, and Percy was thankful that she wasn’t the vindictive type. “Same, Sonja… Tell LaSalle how you really feel about him, he returns it, trust me.” Deena’s words of advice seemed to be more prophetic than Percy would have expected. She wasn’t sure how she felt about LaSalle, so how could he return the feeling. 

“Thanks.” She then just turned on her heel and picked her bag up, heading back out to the street and walking a little further away she then pulled her phone out and scrolled through her contacts until she got the one that she wanted. The one that might be able to actually help her make sense of all of this. “You free?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” Patton replied as soon as he had picked up the phone, sounding a little suspicious as to why she was calling him, not that she blamed him, she had been pretty vocal about the fact she was going to be spending the night with Deena, so they would have assumed her to be incommunicado for the night.

“You, me, Sebastian. Pride's bar. I need advice.” She knew that if she invited Patton she needed to invite Sebastian, but that Patton would likely drag him along anyway. As much as those two pretended they didn’t like each other, they were actually the best of friends. 

“Hey, Sebastian and I are guys.” Patton replied with a hint of terror in his voice, and for a second it confused Percy as to why that would be his response, then a moment later she realised exactly why.

“Not that kind of advice, asshole.” It did get a chuckle out of her though, and truthfully she hadn’t been sure that that would actually be possible. Of course Patton could get one out of her though. “Deena broke up with me.” She admitted, tutting to herself as she did. This implosion of her relationship was all her own fault too, at least she could admit to that.

“I knew it was coming.” Patton said, and somehow that didn’t actually surprise Percy at all. She knew that he was one of the most observant people around, and on top of that he knew almost everyone, or so it seemed. He had some type of connection to the entire planet.

“So did I, unfortunately.” Percy allowed herself a moment of silence then turned her attention back to the conversation with Patton, already starting to wander down the road in the direction of the Quarter and Pride's bar, thankfully Deena didn’t live that far away. “Anyway, you guys are the ones who can help me with my next move.”

“What about Merri?” Patton asked, and Percy thought about that for a moment. While she wanted to get Brody’s opinion, she also wanted to leave Brody at home with her husband right now. It wasn’t fair she drag her friend out for something that could wait.

“Nah, I’m gonna speak to her about it when I know for sure that I’m doing the right thing.” That seemed like a fair reason. Sure, it was a bit of an excuse, but it was almost true. Brody was best with the practical things once a decision was made, right now there was no decision, just a lot of conflicted emotions.

“OK, we’ll meet you at the bar. One one condition?” Patton was always one to be thinking up random conditions to his deals, especially if he wasn’t sure what he was going to be asked to do about something. Percy wasn’t sure what it would be this time given the things Patton had made Brody and LaSalle agree to before.

“What is it?” She just sighed softly, deciding that it would be easier to just agree with Patton than fight about the thing with him. She actually was quite enjoying keeping him on edge though, so she might not do whatever she agreed to immediately. It would just be a lot more interesting if she waited and let him sweat that part of the deal out. 

“Hit me up with that fine friend of yours.” Of course, it was about a girl. Percy had to work through all her friends in her mind before figuring out which one it was that Patton was referring too, and as she did all she could do was chuckle.

“Billie? You know she slept with LaSalle right?” It seemed like it was a good idea for her to at least point out that Billie was LaSalle’s ex. No point them ending up arguing over the same girl at some point in the future.

“Name a woman in this city that hasn't other than lesbians and Brody.” Patton challenged, and Percy had to admit that he was right there. All her friends had slept with LaSalle, at least, the three she had outside of the team who were interested in guys.

“Checkmate. Fine I’ll set you up with Billie. See you in fifteen.” She then ended the call and just sighed. She knew that this was coming, she had actually known that, but the fact that Deena had finally managed to call things off before they were both losing any good feelings they had for one another. Percy was upset a little, because she genuinely liked Deena and thought that if they’d met any other time they would have had a chance. Now she needed to look to the future, and decide what that actually meant.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last 4 chapters of this all have the same middle told from different POVs, Brody and Pride share beginning and middle with different endings. Percy and LaSalle have different beginnings but share middle and end. I promise it will make sense when you read it.

Brody had been planning for tonight longer than she thought Pride realised, she was just ready to finally tell people all the good news she had in her heart. Since she’d stepped back from CGIS she’d had little to do other than plan all this. There was a lot of good for them all, and she wanted to share it. Pride seemed to still be worrying about it, and about how the reactions had been when the team had originally found out. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“Look, they’ve known we’re married for over a month and we haven’t really done anything.” They hadn’t had a reception as they’d been called straight out to a crime scene on their wedding day. Brody regretted that a little, so this was going to be the perfect resolution to that. There was so much they all had to celebrate. “Let’s have a party and announce our big news with the people we love.”

“That’s a nice way of thinking about it.” Pride smiled then pulled her back into his arms. The best part of him still having his room here at the office was that she could use that when they needed to, and it made it comfortable for them to get away from everyone in. Now though, he needed to get back to work. “So, we’ll surprise everyone when they arrive?”

“Also I have a surprise for you too.” She knew what she wanted to tell him, and on top of that she wanted to get to tell him in front of all their friends. She wanted everyone to find out at the same time, as right now the only people who knew were her parents, and while they liked Pride, they wouldn’t be calling him without provocation.

“Oh, you do really?” He grinned, his hands settling on her hips, his thumbs on the bottom of the bump that had sprung up in the last few days. She had worn a baggy shirt just to cover it up a little, so they wouldn’t tip anyone off before they announced it tonight. Though by the time they got there she likely wouldn’t care that much. 

“Well, you know you had to rush off for your case before I got my scan this morning?” She started, fully intending to give him chance to work it out, but she wasn’t going to outright tell him exactly what the surprise was though. She saw him going over the morning in his mind, and she just smiled softly letting him think that that would actually lead him to the answer.

“Yeah. The baby is healthy, right?” Pride looked stricken for a moment, and she couldn’t actually help but laugh a little. If there had been something wrong with their baby she would not have waited to tell him, he'll she would have needed him to be right there with her, It was sweet that that was the first place his mind went too though. He truly wanted this family as much as she did.

“Perfectly.” She reassured him and softly stroked his cheek, not wanting him to worry any further about it. She knew that pregnancy was a worrying time for everyone, especially when there were the additional risks that came with being over 35 and having children. She had faith in this though. “I just want to surprise you with everyone else, OK?” She smiled and pressed the pad of her thumb to his lips gently.

“Sure, I’ll try and be patient.” He kissed her thumb then pulled back, which she took a signal that they both needed to start moving. It was actually a good point, as they both had things they needed to do before they could spend tonight doing what they wanted to do. Especially as they needed to do all the set up, and she didn’t mind being the only one doing that as long as Pride put the team on bypass for one night.

“You should get back to doing your work, and I’m going to go by the bar and set up with Buckley. I’m also going to go home and change into something a little more fitting.” She was also going to get Laurel, though that was going to be another surprise for Pride, in case he needed another.

“Are you going to fit anything?” Pride teased, poking the small bump then kissing her softly to let her know he was joking. As she thought about it, she realised exactly how good a question it was, as she was quite a slim person, and most of her dresses didn’t have that much give in them. She’d have to try everything on and see what would do.

“I have no idea, I bulged I know, but I’ll find something.” She would find something, even if it ended up being that she needed to go out and buy something. She was going to look the part for tonight, but she was sure that she’d have one or two dresses that would have the appropriate elasticity to help her with this. “Time to go.”

“Love you.” Pride grinned, then kissed her forehead before he stepped even further back, though she also knew that wouldn’t actually get her to leave if they hadn’t wanted to. With everything they needed to get done though, she would, but she wasn’t quite done just yet. She would be on her way soon enough.

“I know, do some work.” She grinned and kissed him once more before ducking out of the office so that nobody would even see that she'd been there. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her former team, just that sometimes it still hurt that she wasn’t there. Brody knew she’d left for the right reasons, but that didn’t stop it hurting.

She spent the afternoon distracting herself, working out how to go about this, and also making the executive decision that the bar could survive one Wednesday night being closed for a private function, especially one that was as important as tonight. once that was all arranged she went and picked Laurel up then changed into a dress, making sure that the cardigan she wore was nice and loose and didn’t give anything away. Then it was back to the bar and waiting for everyone to arrive. Of course, Pride was the last one to arrive, and that made it a little nerve wracking. 

As soon as he walked in Brody just stood and watched him until he was stood in front of her. “You did all this with Buckley?” He smiled as he looked around, and Brody had to admit that she was proud of all that she and Buckley had managed to get done. Especially given that this was a short notice thing.

“Looks good right? I made the executive decision it be family only in here tonight. Laurel is here too, she’s in the kitchen with Loretta.” Brody had no idea what those two were doing in there, but she also knew better than to ask. She really didn’t want to think about it but she’d know eventually that it would happen.

“So now that we’re all here Buckley locking the door?” Pride asked, looking over his shoulder as Buckley came away from the door and headed back behind the bar. Despite her reservations six months ago, she had actually come to really like Buckley and found him a breath of fresh air when she needed a break from their career.

“Yeah, he’s part of the family, I told him he should stay.” She really liked the fact that he was starting to come around to that idea too. She actually understood more about Buckley than maybe some of the others did. So far only Pride had seen her when her PTSD had flared up and while she didn’t have blackouts the way Buckley did, she tended toward anxiety attacks, she understood how it was when your brain didn’t do what you wanted.

Pride stopped then squeezed her hand, clearly realising where her mind had gone to. He was good at that, even more so over the last six months. She tended to know there his thoughts were going too though. “You want to just go right ahead and do this?” Pride asked, clearly trying to remind her this was a happy occasion.

“Yeah, we should.” She smiled, because she really was just ready to tell him and let everyone know that they were going through and why things were changing as fast as they were. “Want to have a Dutch courage for both of us?” She chuckled softly, knowing that if she could have done, she would have had a shot right about now.

“Nah, let’s just do it.” Pride nodded, then pulled her up to the stage and clapped his hands a few times to get everyone’s attention. “Hey, everyone.” He then shouted, and she watched as everyone came and stood around, seeing them coming out of the kitchen and moving forward. 

“Yeah? I thought we knew everything.” LaSalle shouted, and both Laurel and Percy smacked his arms as he shouted. Both she and Pride burst out laughing at that, and Brody reached down and slid her fingers between his while they stood there and looked out over all their friends.

“Alright, so tonight is to celebrate the fact that King and I decided to get married in, well, June.” She stopped for a few seconds, knowing that it was easier to add breaks in than be constantly interrupted the way that she knew they would be if she didn’t add in those breaks. That’s what she’d learnt from being partnered by LaSalle for a year.

“And it’s now November.” Sebastian said, and it was obvious he wasn’t trying to say anything, he was just pointing out that they’d waited a long time to tell everyone. Nobody had teased them less than Sebastian, as he’d just seemed like he wasn’t quite accepting how things were going.

“Yes, yes. It’s been almost 5 months, we know.” Pride laughed, along with anyone else. She squeezed his hand and smiled a little bit, just watching him to see what he was going to say. “But we also have something else to announce.” He then just turned a little bit to look at her, letting her tell them all what was happening. For that she was grateful. 

“I’m pregnant.” She grinned, just a little bit sheepishly. While they were excited about it, the fact they’d only been together a few months and we married and starting a family, it probably all seemed a little fast. That’s when she decided to add the cherry on top and surprise everyone in the room. “And we’re having twins.”

“Wait, what?” Pride’s face was the first she looked at, even as she felt and heard the congratulations of everyone else in the room. He looked so shocked and surprised, and unsurprisingly she couldn’t take her eyes off him until she saw the grin on his face, then she started looking around everyone else.

“That’s why you already left CGIS, good on you Merri.” Percy was the first one to come up to her, then the smaller woman pulled her down into a tight hug. They hadn’t been on the best of terms since she’d left, but now she couldn’t help but think that this was the best idea, and the best possible reaction she could have gotten. 

“Hey, you need parenting advice, hit me up.” Patton came between the two of them, grinning a little as Merri leant down to give him a hug. He’d always been the first one there when and if she’d needed someone. “If I added another P it would stand for Paternal.” Given that he actually had a great relationship with his daughter, Merri wasn’t totally unsurprised. He was a good dad, but so was Pride.

“Thanks Patton.” She smiled again and squeezed his shoulder then turned her attention back down to his husband, not really sure that he’d taken in that they were bringing two babies into the world, not just the one. “Dwayne?” She had to check he knew, because that was the most important thing.

“We’re having twins?” He asked, and Brody couldn’t help but notice that even just in saying that he was still in a total daze about it. Maybe she should have told him privately, but she actually loved that she had managed to shock him to this level with everyone around. It felt better to share it with everyone.

“We should give those two a minute.” Loretta’s was the voice suggesting that, and as the voices all faded away she got to just focus on Pride and see what he was thinking, and almost immediately he leant in and kissed her as hard as he could. Brody just grinned and kissed him back, then took his hand and put it on her stomach.

“That was the surprise.” She grinned looking down to where their hands both were on her stomach, then as she started her next sentence she reached behind him and into her bag where she was keeping the pictures she had taken at the scan. She just wanted to show him that the babies were perfect. “They are both perfectly healthy for 13 weeks, look.”

“These are our children?” He asked, taking the two cards from her and looking at them both, snaking his arm around her as he looked at them. She leant her head into his shoulder and just thought about how this was all so nearly perfect. They were already going to be so spoiled.

“Yeah, this one is higher up, probably going to be trouble growing up, they didn’t want to stay still for pictures.” She pointed to the first picture, remembering watching that little blob moving on the screen and laughing about how he or she did not want to have their picture taken. Following in the footsteps of their aunty Emily. 

“God Meredith, I love you so much.” Pride whispered and leant in and kissed her again then rested his forehead to hers. Brody couldn’t help but smile widely at that, as it was something that she was never used to hearing, and she’d never get used to hearing it. Pride liked to tell her that he loved her, and she was happy with that.

“I love you too.” She smiled then kissed him again before stepping out of his arms and grinning a little before indicating the rest of the room. “We should get back to everyone else, we have plenty of time to talk about this.” When they got home, at that she stepped away and focused on the first person who came up to her.

“We’ll talk about how you’re going to fit kids in that house soon.” That was a good question, but it wasn’t urgent for a little while, as they had a guest bedroom, and it was going to be a little while before the babies were ambulatory, so Brody wasn’t ready to really think about it.

“Thanks Loretta.” She meant that, as even though she wasn’t ready she knew that it was a gift to have a landlord who was actually happy about her tenants bringing a child into the world, two of them, and still staying in the house.

“You’re happy about this right?” Loretta asked, clearly remembering when Brody said that she didn’t want a family, and it felt quite nice that someone had remembered that, but this time she was quite surprised by exactly how much she wanted this, and she really did want to have this family. That had surprised her more than anyone.

“Happier than I can remember being. We’re starting a family, I really can’t run anymore.” She couldn’t and wouldn’t run, she had her husband and now she was having two children. That was not an option any longer. She was settled in New Orleans, and she was going to stay here.

“Good, we quite like having you here.” Loretta smiled, then gave her a tight, friendly hug. Having Loretta around was almost as good as having her mom there, and she was quite happy about that. It helped in these situations.

“Me too, this is home now.” She smiled and her eyes sought out her husband, who was stood with Sebastian and Laurel, grinning as widely as he had been when he’d pulled away from her. Finally she had found a place that was the best for her, and where her family were. Taking a brief moment she closed her eyes and mentally thanked Emily for bringing her to this place. She wished her sister could be here, but no matter what happened, Brody would keep doing her proud, and had partially fixed the broken part of her. 


	38. Chapter 38

Pride knew that tonight was something that Brody had been looking forward to, and he was too in his own way, but at the same time he was more concerned about potential fallout. He knew that tonight they were going to tell them all that they were having a family, that was why Brody had stopped in on her way back from the doctors, and that had ended up with them cuddling on his old bed. As they started to get up he just looked at her wanting her to be sure. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“Look, they’ve known we’re married for over a month and we haven’t really done anything.” That was also true, but that was mostly because they’d had some crazy cases, and Brody herself had been doing her training. “Let’s have a party and announce our big news with the people we love.” 

“That’s a nice way of thinking about it.” Pride smiled, then when she started to move away from him he reached out and pulled her back into his arms, looking down and his eyes lingering on the slight bulge that reminded him they were having a child, and they were going to be raising it together. “So, we’ll surprise everyone when they arrive?”

“Also I have a surprise for you too.” What exactly could she surprise him with now. He’d read her personnel file, met her parents and married her. There weren’t all that many surprises left in their lives. It was an exciting thought, however, and he was sure that if she wanted to keep it a surprise he wouldn’t press.

“Oh, you do really?” He ended up smiling, dropping his hands to her hips and settling his thumbs on the bump, still unable to believe that this had all fallen into place for them. It was going to be an interesting night, however much they’d argued about it in the last few days. 

“Well, you know you had to rush off for your case before I got my scan this morning?” She started, and he nodded a little. What surprise could she have for him from that. The books had all told him that this was a routine check on the dates and that the baby was OK. He doubted that she’d keep it a surprise if there was something wrong with the baby but he felt he needed to check anyway.

“Yeah. The baby is healthy, right?” He had to check, and the moment he thought about it he worried even more. They were both older, and there were risks that came when parents were older. Brody’s face told him that he didn’t need to worry so much about that, as she was calm and happy.

“Perfectly.” Her hand went up to his cheek and stroked it softly, one of the things that always calmed him, no matter the situation. He didn’t know when she’d worked that out, one day she’d just seemed to know. “I just want to surprise you with everyone else, OK?” When she pressed the pad of her thumb to his lips he took the opportunity to kiss them gently.

“Sure, I’ll try and be patient.” He then pulled away and smiled a little, not really wanting to go but also knowing that they needed to start moving on with their day. he still had a case and he was sure she had something to do. She was taking a break, and then would be taking up a position with the NOPD when the baby was old enough. They were holding a spot for her, based on her recommendations. 

“You should get back to doing your work, and I’m going to go by the bar and set up with Buckley.” Oh how he wished he was a fly on the wall for that. Buckley and Brody seemed to have bonded in a way he hadn’t expected, but their conversations always ended up in bizarre places, largely because they both had slightly unusual coping strategies, and nobody else on his team was badly affected by PTSD. Brody was probably glad to have someone to talk to about that side of her life. “I’m also going to go home and change into something a little more fitting.”

Thinking about the little bump, Pride couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease her, and as he thought about it that was the perfect thing to pick. “Are you going to fit anything?” He grinned to show her that he was teasing, and he added a kiss and a poke to the bump just to clarify that. 

“I have no idea, I bulged I know, but I’ll find something.” She had that determined look on her face that came out whenever she decided to do something that, possibly, wasn’t going to be the easiest of things to do. “Time to go.” She then said, and he had to fight the desire to just pull her back to the bed and pretend that the day wasn’t half over. 

“Love you.” It was all he could think to say, and he grinned before kissing her forehead and stepping back further. If he didn’t he’d stop fighting his desire and that wouldn’t end well for any of them. They had to get ready, and he had to go and get some work done on this case, even if he’d rather be here with his beautiful wife.

“I know, do some work.” He snorted as she leant forward to kiss him and he just stood and watched shaking his head as she walked away. She was magnificent even in the baggy clothes she’d put on today. Tonight she could stop hiding that, and he thought he’d change into a different shirt before he left for there.

An afternoon of casework and legwork was all that followed, and in between reports his mind shot back to Brody’s surprise. He just wanted to know what it was that she was going to surprise him with. Had they magically learnt the sex, we're there four of them in there. He just didn’t know, but she seemed excited. As Patton, Percy and LaSalle all eventually headed out to get ready he took a deep breath and admitted to himself that this was something they all needed to do. He also now knew that he’d be the last one to arrive, and Brody was going to kill him for that. Walking down to the bar and stopping in the doorway he saw the closed sign, and decided to just step in and see what Brody and Buckley had done. It was actually an amazing transformation, and he could believe this was done in just the afternoon.

“You did all this with Buckley?” He said as he came to a stop in front of her, wondering how the hell she’d managed to do that. It was more than a little surprising that she’d gotten it all done, but of course, this was his wife and she could do anything that she wanted to do if she put her energy into it. 

“Looks good right?” She asked with that twinkle in her eye that he did not get to see often enough. It was great for her to be as excited as she clearly was, and he wasn’t at all surprised that this was what she’d spent her afternoon doing. Arguably it had been more productive than his. “I made the executive decision it be family only in here tonight. Laurel is here too, she’s in the kitchen with Loretta.” 

“So now that we’re all here Buckley locking the door?” He looked back over his shoulder and frowned momentarily, only because he wasn’t sure how he felt about being locked in the bar tonight. No matter how often he’d done it he’d always ended up giving himself the jitters when he did.

“Yeah, he’s part of the family, I told him he should stay.” Pride was actually happy that Buckley was being included in their ‘family’ events, as he had joined their extended family, in a way, and they all needed to just let him in. Brody was definitely the best at this, though everyone else was getting there too. When that was all done he turned his gaze back to Brody and thought for a moment. He could tell when she was getting into her head, and it was probably best that he try and distract her, so he reached out and squeezed her hand.

As she came back to him a little more he squeezed again and thought that there was no time like the present, and maybe they should just get the announcement over with as a way of greeting. “You want to just go right ahead and do this?” He didn’t know if she’d agree that it was best to do it right now, but he hoped that she would agree to that.

“Yeah, we should.” He watched as she started to smile, then she leant in and asked him the silliest question he could imagine. “Want to have a Dutch courage for both of us?” That would have been something he’d have asked her a few months ago, but he didn’t need it, this was the best thing he could do, and if she was sure he didn’t need to drink to tell them.

“Nah, let’s just do it.” He nodded to himself a couple of times then used the hand he was still holding to pull Brody to the front of the bar and up onto the small stage where his musical acts generally were performing. Then he decided that clapping and shouting would get attention faster than almost anything else. “Hey, everyone.”

“Yeah? I thought we knew everything.” LaSalle called from where he was stood, and Pride just looked up at him and laughed, feeling Brody doing the same thing stood beside him. At that point he faltered a little, but Brody reached down between them and slid her fingers back between his again.

“Alright, so tonight is to celebrate the fact that King and I decided to get married in, well, June.” She picked up the thought while he gathered himself, and he knew that she was aware of where to give the breaks for interruptions. Their team were generally pretty easy to know when they were going to interrupt.

“And it’s now November.” Sebastian just sounded possibly a touch confused. He was a hard one for Pride to read, though it seemed like Brody understood him more than many of the others. Sebastian s crush seemed to have worn off, but he still wasn’t the most comfortable with change, and there were a lot of changes.

“Yes, yes. It’s been almost 5 months, we know.” He laughed again then looked to Brody who squeezed his hand tightly for a second before she loosened her grip again. This was it, they were going to tell everyone, but he felt like Brody should be the one who had the actual honour of telling them. “But we also have something else to announce.” 

“I’m pregnant. And we’re having twins.” That made him stop instantly and it was as though his brain had frozen. Did he hear that right, Brody said they were having twins. Two babies. He couldn’t wrap his head around that idea, even though it did make a lot of sense. 

“Wait, what?” He ended up mumbling as he felt Brody’s gaze on him, and he still couldn’t really believe that she had actually said what she had. They were going to have twins and they were already going to have to start preparing for that. It was just not expected, and his brain still seemed to be several steps behind everyone else.

“That’s why you already left CGIS, good on you Merri.” Percy congratulated, and Pride tried to get his brain to catch up again as he left Brody to deal with the others. She had been right, it was definitely a surprise, and he wasn’t sure what to say about it, but he was happy, and he couldn’t believe that he was going to be able to go through it with someone he loved more than he could ever explain.

“Hey, you need parenting advice, hit me up.” Patton was the next one who came up to them and he shook Pride's hand before giving Brody a hug. Over all the years Pride had known him, he knew that Patton’s priority was his daughter, and that he was a good dad, so that was not an empty promise. “If I added another P it would stand for Paternal.” 

“Thanks Patton.” Brody said, and Pride just turned to face her as he thought about everything that was going to change. It was already going to have changed a little with one baby, but with two their lives were about to be turned completely upside-down, and he was just excited to get it all going.

“We’re having twins?” He asked again and smiled softly, but he was sure that she would be able to tell that the shock had not at all faded. She was a perceptive person, and he knew that she wasn’t going to let him stay so dazed for long. She’d drill it into him, probably before they went home tonight.

“We should give those two a minute.” As usual, Pride was happy that Loretta was there, and that she was as good a friend as she was. He just needed a few seconds with Brody to get this all into his mind. As they stood there he stopped holding back and leant forward to kiss his wife as hard as he could. As they kissed he felt her lifting his hand to rest on her bump, and he just grinned again thinking about it.

“That was the surprise.” She confirmed, and he remembered the fleeting joke he’d had with himself about it being a multiple birth. He felt her leaning around him, but still easily heard what she was saying. “They are both perfectly healthy for 13 weeks, look.” When she handed him the scans he couldn’t take his eyes off of them, noticing how much more defined these were than when Linda was pregnant.

“These are our children?” It wasn’t really a question, but at the same time it was. he pulled her against him, and smiled wider when she rested her head on his shoulder. His eyes took in every detail that he possibly could from the scan, and he just held her to his side, his family, his perfect little family.

“Yeah, this one is higher up, probably going to be trouble growing up, they didn’t want to stay still for pictures.” She grinned pointing to the first of the two pictures, somehow he wasn’t at all surprised that even in the womb one of their children was causing havoc. It seemed to fit in with their lives. As he thought of that he realised how perfect this all was, and how happy he was that it was Brody he was doing all this with.

“God Meredith, I love you so much.”He whispered almost directly into her ear, then moved slightly so that he could kiss her once more before resting his forehead against hers. He didn’t know when he’d last been this happy, probably when Laurel was a small child. All he knew now was that he was there with the woman he loved, and he never had to worry about her running again.

“I love you too.” She replied, and as always he memorised hearing those words. Brody did not say them very often, and it was always nice when he actually got to hear them. She then kissed him once more and stepped out of his arms, which meant it was time they go back to being social with their friends, their family. “We should get back to everyone else, we have plenty of time to talk about this.” 

Immediately, she was pulled into conversation with Loretta, and he headed to the bar where Laurel was stood talking with Sebastian. He wondered how his daughter was going to take this announcement, mostly he hoped that she’d be happy.“So, you’re gonna be a dad again, twice over.”

“It seems that way, you going to be good with two siblings?” He had to ask, given that this affected her life too. Alright, not as much as it would if she was younger, but it was still a big change for any and all of them, whether or not it was going to affect people all that much.

“Providing I’m not expected to babysit them at once, sure.” Laurel teased, and Pride couldn’t help but laugh again. This was such a strange day, and he thought he was still in shock, even though he was carrying around the pictures that proved this was really happening. “I couldn’t be happier about it dad. Merri seems happy too.”

“She does.” He agreed that Brody did seem to be happy about this, even though that was a surprise even to him. She hadn’t wanted children, but now she was her and embracing this change in their lives. It made him even more glad that she seemed to have had a change of heart.

“She’s the happiest I’ve seen her since she came here. I’m glad you're both happy.” That was the most Sebastian had said today, and Pride just smiled and shook his friends’ hand hard. 

“I need to go and get the cake finished. Well done dad.” Laurel's grin convinced him that she wasn’t just saying that because this was something that made him happy. She actually was looking forward to having siblings. That was more important to him than he could ever explain.

“Thanks, baby.” He smiled widely and kissed her head, giving her a one armed hug before she escaped back into the kitchen, and he remembered Brody mentioning something about them being in there earlier. With everything that was going on with their lives right now he was just happy that it seemed as though Brody was finally home, and he knew he was part of that. They had a lot to be excited about, and this was only the beginning.


	39. Chapter 39

LaSalle had no idea what had suddenly changed with Percy in the last couple of days, but all of a sudden something had changed. He was a little terrified to ask her straight out, but he wanted to know. The rumours about what had happened with her and Deena notwithstanding, he worried about her. She was his partner and his friend, and she didn’t seem to be herself. What LaSalle realised he needed was advice and right now he wasn’t sure he could trust anyone here to do that without it spreading, so he picked up his phone and called the one person he knew was always going to give him honest advice. As soon as the phone was picked up there was no time for LaSalle to say anything before his brother started speaking. “What’s going on, Chris?”

“Sorry Cade, I just really needed to talk to someone who wasn’t  _ here _ to go blabbing.” That was a word he’d recently picked up again from Laurel. Generally he would have gone to Brody, but since leaving the team and CGIS she’d become a real old-age gossip. Little seemed to be sacred, though he knew her well enough to know if he asked her to keep something private she would. “I swear since Merri left she’s become even more of a gossip.”

“Brody left?” Cade asked, reminding LaSalle how long it had actually been since he’d called his family, as it had been over a month since she’d left now. He just ended up getting too caught up in his own life and all the situations that kept popping up here. He already knew he needed to check in more often, especially with his mother.

“She married King, transferred out.” He wasn’t going into how it had been a secret for months and how coming clean had made him angry for a reason he hadn’t been able to put his finger on at first. Though it had only been momentary for him, Percy had been mad for a couple of weeks until he pointed out she was being stupid.

“Well, I didn’t see that one coming.” Cade seemed to be on the side of everyone else. Brody and Pride had taken almost everyone by surprise in getting married, though LaSalle himself had always known there was something between them. Cade clearly knew that LaSalle hadn’t called to talk about his co-worker’s love lives, so he turned the conversation around as naturally as he could. “Anyway, what’s on your mind little brother.”

“I’m in love with this woman…” LaSalle started but was almost instantly interrupted, which once again proved that Cade was far more perceptive than some people gave him credit for. He was written off for not paying any attention to people, even when he was on his meds. Really though, he just kept things much more quiet.

“That tiny little agent I met last time I was down there?” That was a good way to have described Percy, actually. She was tiny, but she made up for that in personality and force. Nobody would have expected her to be able to take people down the way she did. Both Percy and Brody were the type of women who did not look like they could kick ass, and yet they did so more often than he and Pride did. 

“How the hell did you know that?” As far as LaSalle knew he’d only met Percy for a few seconds, and he hadn’t been anywhere near them. So how had Cade made the connection. Possibly it didn’t really matter, because he’d been spot on. Just like he always was. LaSalle didn’t know how to fight back on it given he was right.

“Because she’s not your type, just like Savannah. She’s smart and has balls.” There was still a stab of pain at the mention of Savannah, and LaSalle knew that he was always going to hurt when she was mentioned, and he still missed her, but if things went well with Percy there might be some relief one day. “You always fall for them the hardest.”

He just nodded, because once again Cade was right on the money. LaSalle stood holding the phone for a moment then started pacing as he tried to think of ways to talk about it. “Well, yeah. She’s got a girlfriend though, and I have no idea what to do about it.” Thinking about the rumours he decided that getting Cade’s opinion on that was probably a I idea too. “Scuttlebutt says they broke up, but I can’t make a move if she only just broke up with someone, can I?”

“Sure, why can’t you?” Cade actually sounded more confused about the fact that LaSalle thought he couldn’t bring up Percy change in relationship status. The truth was that LaSalle was just afraid he was actually going to be the fall-back guy who Percy didn’t really want. She just needed a warm body.

“What if I end up being the rebound?” It was surely a reasonable worry, and he didn’t know what to think if it wasn’t. He didn’t know that he could take Percy leaving, he was already too invested in a potential future for them. He’d fallen for her, and right now he was just battling to keep his head above water while he waited for something to change. “What if she decides 1 year in that she would rather be with someone else.”

“Isn’t that the chance we all take, whenever we get involved with someone? When we love someone?” Cade asked, throwing the situation at LaSalle and making him truly think about it all. He had worried about that with Savannah too, and every relationship that he’d ever actually had. Maybe that was a part of love. 

“When did you get so wise?” He laughed, deciding that teasing his brother would be a better thing than actually trying to answer the question, since once again Cade was totally right. It was a risk with every situation, every relationship, but if Brody and Pride had taught him anything it was that he needed to take the risk if he wanted the relationship. Still, the fact that it was Cade who was pointing this out to him was not lost on him.

“I was always wise. It was just covered by a layer of crazy.” Cade joked, and that just gave LaSalle a sense of relief, as he knew that if Cade was joking about his own mental health he was still on his meds and was hopefully finally in control of his life. That was all they’d all wanted for so long, and now it was reality.

“You’re still taking your meds?” It was something LaSalle always asked and Cade seemed to take it as a sign that his brother wanted him to be better, which was where it all came from. Where it would all always come from. He loved his brother, but he hated the person that he was when he was off his meds. Savannah’s death seemed to have shown Cade that he needed to be medicated too.

“Been on ‘em over a year now. Second nature.” Cade confirmed, and that made him even more confident that this was going to end well for all of them. It had been almost 2 years since he’d found Cade again, and he couldn’t really wait to celebrate that milestone. “You gotta come home, I need you to meet my girl. Momma even likes her.”

“That’s a sign I need to meet her.” Their mother rarely liked any of the girls they brought home, it as something maternal in her that she just had to decide that they were all bad news. She’d loved Savannah, and she’d like one of Cade’s old girlfriend’s, Molly. That was about it. She was even worse with the boys his sister had taken home.

“Soon, right?” Cade obviously really wanted to show his little brother how much things had started going right for him, and really LaSalle didn’t entirely blame him. It had been a rough few years, and they needed all the good they could get into their lives, and if that meant they both had new girls, that was a good thing.

LaSalle was so glad that he and Cade were at this point in their lives, where they could both be happy about what the other was doing. “I promise. I just have to work things out.” He assured, knowing that he would have to go home for Christmas this year, their team were a family, but he needed to spend some times with his blood too. 

“You will little brother, I have faith.” That was all it took for LaSalle to know that one way or another he’d figure everything out with Percy, and then he’d hopefully take her home and he could introduce her to his family too. That was going to be his goal, now though he needed to get back to work, especially as Pride had something planned at the bar for them all tonight.

The day went oddly slowly, but LaSalle made a resolution to bring things up with Percy at the bar later if she didn’t bring anything up herself. He needed to talk to her about where they stood, and he thought that that would be the perfect time for them to start working toward that. When he got there he marvelled at the decorations that Brody and Buckley had managed to get up, and he realised they could double for Christmas if Pride didn’t already have a plan. As it was, LaSalle went to the bar and started his evening of drinking, knowing that he needed it to have this conversation with Percy.

“Hey, everyone.” Pride called after he finally arrived, and LaSalle turned and looked at them. There was something about the way they were stood that made it look as though there was about to be another bomb dropped on them all. It hadn’t been that long since they said they’d told them everything, and there was something about that being false that was really getting to him.

“Yeah? I thought we knew everything.” LaSalle shouted, but tried to make sure that he was smiling as he did, not that he was certain Brody and Pride could even see him, they seemed to be rather taken with each other at the moment. Percy and Laurel, who were stood either side of him, seemed to both decide he needed punishing and he felt a slap either side then just shook his head chuckling.

“Alright, so tonight is to celebrate the fact that King and I decided to get married in, well, June.” Brody paused, clearly expecting another heckle. LaSalle was not stupid enough to try a second heckle so quickly when both the women stood beside him seemed to be looking for any reason they could get to punish him.

“And it’s now November.” Sebastian however didn’t let any of them down. Though he sounded like he was just stating a fact. It was always amusing when he joined in on these things, he was so earnest, it was kind of sweet. 

“Yes, yes. It’s been almost 5 months, we know.” Everyone laughed along with Pride as he spoke, but they were both paying attention to the happy couple on the stage. The deep breath Pride took made him think that he had been right thinking they were about to announce something else. “But we also have something else to announce.” 

“I’m pregnant.” Brody grinned and LaSalle clapped a couple of times before realising that Brody wasn’t done speaking, though she hadn’t seemed to notice at all. Her attention had turned to Pride, and he seemed to be just as curious about what she was going to say. “And we’re having twins.”

They all saw the look of utter shock and surprise on Pride's face at that as he somehow managed to stutter something out. “Wait, what?” That was actually somewhat eloquent for the clear surprise he had, and LaSalle just smiled as he realised that things were all fitting into place.

“That’s why you already left CGIS, good on you Merri.” Percy stepped up and pulled Brody into a hug, and as she pulled away in the light it was obvious to see the small bump around Brody’s stomach. Once again he was thinking about how they were a team of investigators and had missed something obvious that was right in front of them.

“Hey, you need parenting advice, hit me up.” Patton was next up, but LaSalle was hanging back, wanting to tell them his congratulations more privately. It was something he just felt like he needed to do, and he’d tell them all later. “If I added another P it would stand for Paternal.” 

“Thanks Patton.” Brody replied, and LaSalle was barely paying any attention now, instead looking around everyone else in the room to see what their reactions were. Both Laurel and Sebastian just looked dumbstruck, while everyone else looked thrilled. It was fun to have seen, and to know they were in this place together. 

“We’re having twins?” Pride mumbled, and LaSalle couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. He’d never known his friend to be speechless, and he’d never known him struggle with what to say, and yet today he was. 

“We should give those two a minute.” Loretta then called to everyone else, loud enough that people dispersed almost immediately. He turned away from his friends and let them have a private moment, and as everyone else peeled off into groups he realised that he’d been left alone with Percy. She looked as uncomfortable as he was feeling, and he realised that there was a possibility that she wasn’t as ready for this conversation as he was, but they needed to have it. 

“They’re having a baby, can you believe it?” To his surprise, Percy was the first to start speaking, though it definitely wasn’t about their situation. Brody and Pride's pregnancy was a safe place to start though, as it was something they’d both no doubt have a front row seat to. As long as he wasn’t expected to be at the birth, he’d do a lot for Brody, but that might be pushing it too far. “A little them.”

“Two babies, though King looked more surprised than anyone about that.” He had to chuckle, thinking about the look of shock on his face as Brody had said that. It had been kind of amazing to have been a part of that moment, even though it wasn’t really happening to him. he couldn’t be happier for Brody and Pride.

“Yeah he did.” She said in reply, but seemed more distracted than he would have expected, given that she’d started this conversation. He was about to say a few things, but before he could get a word out, Percy started talking about the situation that he wanted to be talking about. “So, I broke up with Deena.”

“I heard you had, I didn’t want to ask.” LaSalle knew that it was best to state that he hadn’t wanted to pressure her for details or anything about a possible relationship with her so soon after the break-up, though that wasn’t strictly true. It was partly true, and he hoped that it wouldn’t be brought up again after this. “Want to talk about it?

“She realised I had a crush on you.” Percy blurted at almost that exact moment, then there was a slight red tint to her cheeks as she realised what she’d said. It took him a moment to realise what she’d said too. He almost couldn’t believe that that was why their relationship had ended, especially with everything that had happened.

“Wait, what?” He had to ask, unable to believe that she had really said what she’d said, then the reality set in and he had to think about what she was saying and everything they’d been through in the last few months. “Sonja you tried to end anything before it had chance to begin.”

“I know, I know.” She nodded, clearly knowing that this wasn’t exactly the most fair that she’d ever been, though it was obvious she was trying to be honest. “But Deena knew that I still had feelings for you, and I never even told her about that night.” Suddenly LaSalle’s mind shot back to that one night they had spent together. It had been a perfect night, but he’d really thought that that was it for them. “So, I guess I gave up.”

“Fighting for her?” He just wanted to be specific, as he didn’t think that either of them being imprecise right now would be good. They needed to be as honest as it was physically possible to be, otherwise this was just going to end badly before it even began. 

“Yeah. I realised… that no matter how much I loved Deena… she’d never be you.” Percy’s voice cracked a little, and LaSalle put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly, knowing what she meant. “She doesn’t know what I face at work every day and she has no idea the stress that comes with it.” Their job was uniquely challenging, and he had loved that Savannah had understood it. Percy would too. “You know it all. I need you.”

It was obvious what she was hinting at here, and he wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted what she was suggesting. He needed to know that before she could do anything with him, or go any further. She needed to be all in, just like him, or this wouldn’t work. “Are you certain that this is what you want, Sonja?”

“Can we just take it one day at a time?” She asked quietly, then lifted up to take his hand off her shoulder, sliding her fingers through his as she did. It was a tiny gesture, something almost miniscule in the grand scheme of things, and yet to LaSalle it was everything, and it signified that she meant this, she really wanted to take the chance on him, just like he did.

“Sure, we can do just that.” He would rather take it one day at a time with her than have his future planned out with anyone else. Percy was the woman he wanted to grow old with, and he was sure that she would be able to put up with him long enough to deal with that. Everything was changing, for all of them, but the future looked bright, and for the first time in years he had faith that things weren’t going to be terrible. They were going to be great.


	40. Chapter 40

Percy was not really in the mood for anything she had to do today, at least it was a light day, caseload wise. They didn’t have any urgent cases, they were just working their normal number of cases and that meant she had time to think. It had been four days since she and Deena had decided to end things, and all Percy could do was run through the other potential scenario in her head and hope that she didn’t mess it up. It was a chance though. “You done anything about our conversation?” Was the first thing to break her from her thoughts all day, and as she looked to Patton she just shrugged a little.

“You mean the one about LaSalle?” As if there was anything else he could be talking about. Patton hadn’t even been working on a case recently, so it wasn’t as though he would be asking about a case. The look on his face was enough for her to sigh and be honest, because she knew he would make her either way. “No, not even a little bit.”

“Why not?” He normally wasn’t as pushed as Brody could be in personal situations, but clearly Patton had decided to push like Brody would in this situation, because otherwise she probably wouldn’t ever talk about it, and they both knew that that would be a bad thing for everyone involved. Brody had been less available than usual recently, and Percy wasn’t sure what that was about. Really though, she just didn’t know how to approach LaSalle about all of this.

“What do I do, go up to him and say ‘hey I broke up with Deena wanna make out’.” She was being stubborn and facetious and it probably wasn’t entirely called for, but she couldn’t help it. It just came out that way. “I spent the last few months pushing him away, there is no chance I can just turn that around.” She sighed because she was certain that he wouldn’t be the happiest about it.

“Sure you can. He’s nuts about you Sonja, you don’t have to be so worried about how he’d feel about it.” Patton would know how LaSalle was thinking, probably Patton had gotten most of LaSalle’s thoughts on all of their drama over the last 6 months, and it wouldn’t surprise her if Patton just wanted them to get together to save his own sanity. “He’d just be happy you eventually came around.”

“Is it OK to be both happy and sad about all of this?” She had to ask, because while she was sad that things hadn’t worked out with Deena, she was actually happy about the fact she could look forward, and she could make the move on to LaSalle and see if they actually did have something. But she was fairly sure that wasn’t how she should be feeling.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Patton asked and he seemed genuinely confused. Percy wasn’t sure what about her question had confused him, but clearly she wasn’t as clear as she’d wanted to be. “You can feel however you want, happy, sad, indifferent. What matters is that you’re OK with it all.”

“I don’t think you’re meant to ever be happy after a break-up.” She commented, but the truth was that she didn’t really know. Deena was only her third serious relationship. She’d never had the time before, she’d been too busy working or too disinterested to begin one. She somewhat hoped her next relationship would be her last one.

“Only you can say that Sonja.” Patton smiled, and she had to admit that his insight was actually more helpful than she would have thought. He was definitely helping her feel less like she’d done something awful in ending things. “You and Deena are still friends, and she gets that you have feelings for LaSalle. She don’t care, she let you go.”

“Yeah, she just wants me to be happy, and knew that wasn’t going to happen the way we were going.” They hadn’t even been fighting, not much. They just hadn’t been doing anything, which had almost been worse. You could try to fix things when you fought, when you were both just distant, there was nothing to fix.

Patton nodded again, and that made her feel like she was right about all of this. From what she was doing to why she was doing it. “Deena is a really sweet person. She'll be there for you too.” Percy knew that. She knew that Deena would be a good friend, and she actually hoped they could be friends, but she would back away if that was too much for Deena.

“I know. Thanks for being my sounding board, P.” She thanked him, not knowing what else she could do to demonstrate that she was truly thankful for all that he’d done for her, recently. It was something she’d never be able to repay and she was uncomfortable with owing anyone anything.

“Any time, you going to this thing at the bar tonight?” The change of conversation was not transparent at all, and Percy was actually even more thankful for that than she could ever really say. She hated to talk about how she owed someone too. Thinking about the gathering that night, she remembered Pride saying they all had to be there, and there was to be no getting out of it.

“Kinda think it’s mandatory.” She laughed, then looked down and reminded herself that she needed to go home and get herself changed. She didn’t want to go to the bar looking like this, even if it was a mostly private event. Her work attire was not what she wanted for a night out. “Speaking of, I should go change. I’ll meet you there.”

She was conversation-ed out, and talking was not something she was prepared to do again just yet. Spending some time alone to change and then get to the bar would give her the time to recharge and prepare for what she was going to do tonight. They all had tomorrow off, so she and LaSalle could talk tonight then spend the following day thinking about it before they’d have to see each other again. That was what she needed. 

The bar was beautifully decorated when Percy walked in, and she still stuck to the sides when she was there. It was easier to watch people like this. Though it wasn’t normally her who was watching people, that was normally Brody’s job at a party, but today Percy accepted it. She was still watching when Pride pulled his wife up to the front and smiled around at their guests.

“Hey, everyone.” Pride yelled, and Percy stepped forward to stand one side of LaSalle, seeing that Laurel had fallen in on the other side of him. It was probably a good position for them both to be in.  Brody and Pride both looked very happy to be stood where they were, and Percy realised how good they’d actually been for each other, which made her feel even guiltily for how angry she’d been when they first announced it.

“Yeah? I thought we knew everything.” LaSalle called, and Percy didn’t even really need to think before slapping his arm lightly, not realising that Laurel on the other side had decided he needed to be punished for that heckle too. Really, if they needed to talk too everyone there was probably a good reason.

“Alright, so tonight is to celebrate the fact that King and I decided to get married in, well, June.” A glowing Brody said, and Percy got the feeling that there was a baby announcement coming up too. There was something about the way she was standing, and the cardigan she was wearing. Both just made Percy think that maybe she was pregnant, and how had none of them picked up on that before.

Sebastian seemed to be the most confused member of their slightly unorthodox work-family and stated probably the most obvious thing. “And it’s now November.” He said, and Percy couldn’t help but burst out laughing along with everyone else. At least Sebastian seemed to see the funny side too.

“Yes, yes. It’s been almost 5 months, we know.” Pride was still chuckling as he spoke, which was good as almost everyone was still laughing a little. That was when he gave a look to Brody and took a deep breath. Percy just knew, already, that she was right. “But we also have something else to announce.” 

“I’m pregnant.” Brody confirmed with one of the biggest smiles Percy thought she’d ever seen on the other woman's face. Suddenly everything made sense, and Percy couldn’t be happier about it all. “And we’re having twins.” Brody continued, and that just made everyone stop, but almost all eyes were on a very, very shocked Dwayne Pride. 

“Wait, what?” Pride asked, and it was quite clear that he was the most shocked he’d ever been in his life. Percy actually laughed a little at Brody deciding to tell him at the same time as telling everyone else, because it gave them all the opportunity to see him truly speechless, for the first time since most of them had known him.

“That’s why you already left CGIS, good on you Merri.” Percy said after a few minutes, deciding to save Pride from any more attention, stepping forward and giving Brody a hug, after waiting for her little nod to say she could. Percy had learnt over the 18-months she’d been on this team that that was always a good idea.

“Hey, you need parenting advice, hit me up.” Patton grinned when she’d pulled back, and Percy jumped back down, going to stand beside LaSalle again. He looked almost as surprised as the rest, and Percy could understand. At the same time she couldn’t help but laugh both at LaSalle and at Patton’s offer to help. “If I added another P it would stand for Paternal.” 

“Thanks Patton.” Brody laughed, and Percy just smiled, watching them all, hoping that they were as happy about it as it seemed. She knew that Brody had had mixed feelings about having children, so to see her so happy about this was great, and it showed that Brody was maybe finally comfortable.

“We’re having twins?” Pride asked, but it came out more like a mumble than something that people would be able to understand. Percy turned away a little, as the moment turned decidedly personal for the couple, leaving them to talk about it seemed polite.

“We should give those two a minute.” Loretta echoed Percy’s unspoken thoughts, and that was what lead Percy to watch others disappear around, while she just ended up turning to LaSalle, who also didn’t move even an inch. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable silent that they stood in, it was just a silence, but she couldn’t cope with that, and she needed some way to break it.

“They’re having a baby, can you believe it?” That was a lame start, but it was also something that would, hopefully, kick off a conversation. Any kind of conversation really. It didn’t have to be about them or anything related to them, it just needed to be something. “A little them.”

“Two babies, though King looked more surprised than anyone about that.” LaSalle pointed out and chuckled. Percy tried not to laugh at it too, because she couldn’t help but think that two children comprised of the Brody and Pride genes was going to be a terror, for all of them, not just their parents.

She tried to focus on Pride, but as she looked at LaSalle she couldn’t help her mind turning to her situation and what she wanted to say. “Yeah he did.” She mumbled and realised that how distracted she was was probably showing up by now, so she decided to just bite the bullet and go for it. “So, I broke up with Deena.”

“I heard you had, I didn’t want to ask.” LaSalle admitted, and instantly Percy felt better about it. He’d known she was single now and hadn’t pushed for anything from her. That was a sign that he had taken her thoughts seriously. “Want to talk about it?” He offered, and she just nodded a little.

“She realised I had a crush on you.” It fell out of her mouth before she could stop it, and Percy felt the flush rising up her cheeks after it, and given how well LaSalle knew her now he would see it, and probably one day in the future he would use it to his advantage. She knew him well enough by now.

“Wait, what?” LaSalle s response was pretty much exactly what she’d expected, and a hilarious repeat of Pride's reaction to Brody announcing they were having twins. Those two men were so similar at times. LaSalle however just looked a little perplexed. “Sonja you tried to end anything before it had chance to begin.”

“I know, I know.” She conceded that fact, because a few week ago she’d wanted to make her relationship work, but it hadn’t been possible and that had sucked. “But Deena knew that I still had feelings for you, and I never even told her about that night.” That night was burned into her memory, but she regretted that it had happened while she was in a relationship. They should have had more control. “So, I guess I gave up.”

“Fighting for her?” LaSalle wanted clarity, and Percy couldn’t blame him. After everything that had gone on over the last few months she’d want it if the situation was reversed. Being honest was going to be the most important thing here. She had his back, and she knew that wouldn’t change whatever happened. 

“Yeah. I realised… that no matter how much I loved Deena… she’d never be you.” That had been the hardest realisation of her life, and that came across when her voice cracked on the last word. She mentally cursed herself even as she felt LaSalle’s hand land on her shoulder softly. “She doesn’t know what I face at work every day, and she has no idea the stress that comes with it.” Maybe that was why Brody and Pride were so happy now. They were both with someone who understood the job. That was what Percy needed. “You know it all. I need you.”

“Are you certain that this is what you want, Sonja?” LaSalle asked, but he had clearly understood what she was implying, and she was happy that he had caught it. She wanted him to be happy with it too, and while it was what we wanted, it was more sensible to not rush into anything.

“Can we just take it one day at a time?” She asked, reaching up and lifting his hand from her shoulder, then sliding her fingers between his. This was what she wanted right now, and maybe that was enough. If he was happy with that, then it was all they needed to commit to right now.

“Sure, we can do just that.” LaSalle answered, and Percy broke into a wider smile. It had taken a terrorist, 6 months of confusion, a 4 month relationship and a pregnancy announcement to make her realise that the best thing for her had been LaSalle all along. Now they could begin working on the future, and they could all heal from the last year. It had been harder than they could have ever predicted, but they were here, and they were still together. That was all they needed.


End file.
